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by SoraGirl
Summary: Sora has made it into the Tokyo Academy for the Gifted And Talented, a high school for the top students in Japan. She's forced to leave her friends in pursuit of a better education but will their relationships be able to survive? Taiora FINISHED!
1. Acceptance without Accepting

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, but sadly, this story's all mine :\

Author's note: Well, I'm going to consider this a "Taiora epic" lots of chapters, lots of twist and turns but I've started a system in which I won't post a new chapter until I have at least the next one in line so that in case of writers block, I can still update as usual :) If it gets a little weird at some points, I can't help it, it's based on a true story with a few significant changes (to make it fit) and a few other small ones. Also, I've made the school system entirely Americanized because otherwise the plot wouldn't fit :\ Anyway, hope you enjoy :)

Dedication: To Tomo-chan, because I _do_ "miss you immensely". 

Chapter 1

"So?!" Tai asked anxiously the very second his best friend was in sight. Five sets of eyes were glued on the red-head as they awaited her reaction. "Well," she said and looked down sadly. As if on queue, the five slumped down in their chairs with an equally disappointed look. 

"I made it!!!" she laughed and quickly threw her arms around Mimi, who had jumped up in excitement. "Congratulations Sora," Matt smiled coolly from his seat. "I knew you'd make it! I knew it!" Tai exclaimed, smiling so wide it hurt. He stood up as well and smushed Sora into another hug so that she was left gasping for air.

Giddy with success she continued laughing, "Thanks guys, I really appreciate it!" They nodded and laughed some more but with that, Sora sat down and conversation proceeded as usual. There was no dwelling on it, no second thought, no reason for any of them to assume that that conversation would be what would eventually destroy their friendship. 

No one had really given it much thought, not even Sora. She was a straight A student, always at the top of the class, so when a new gifted high school opened up in Tokyo, it seemed only procedure for her to apply. 

And really, she didn't think she had the slightest chance of _actually_ making it. She was competing against the top kids of her own school and those surrounding for a slot. She did it only so she could say she had done it, not so she could say she made it.

But somehow, grueling hours of essays, tests, and interviews later, she had been accepted. She had opened the letter that evening after soccer practice, read it, and almost immediately tossed it aside. It wasn't until two hours later when her mother asked to see the letter, did she realize that she had been accepted.

The bell rang and Tai and Sora bid their goodbyes to the rest of the group, heading for there first class. (Somehow they had managed to score the exact same schedule this year) As they walked, Taichi would glance over every now and again, smile, and extort, "Man, I knew you would get it." Sora would then laugh and smile back, ever since the beginning Tai had encouraged her whole-heartedly. 

In the week before her expectance letter Sora had been …less then optimistic. She guaranteed everyone that she had no chance of getting in but Tai had never believed her. "Sora," he assured her, "There is _no _way you won't make it. You're at the top of the class, president of the SGA, you've got tons of community service hours. You're a shoe in." 

For a while, Tai was actually considering applying to Tokyo Academy for the Gifted and Talented as well. "I hate it here," he explained one day during P.E., glancing angrily at the jocks throwing basketball at the nerds AN: *sniffles * darned jocks, "You're the only person here I can stand." Sora shifted her attention from the jock/nerd battle and looked at Taichi with a blush, "Well, what about the rest of the digidestined?" "Well, yeah, you know what I mean," he said, and walked off to help the nerds.

Of course, Tai _was_ Tai and those plans quickly fell through. Day after day she would pester him to fill out the application until finally, one day, he snapped. "Look, it's none of your business okay?!" he yelled as the walked to lunch. Sora stopped dead in her tracks. It had been a long time since Tai had risen his voice to her. 

"I was only trying to help," she said meekly. Tai sighed, "I know, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten angry with you. It's just…you know…things.." Sora tried to get him to explain, but it was to no avail. Afterwards, her asking about the application lessened, as she feared another outburst from Tai. In the end, Tai never even turned it in.

Sora recalled all this as they walked in silence to class. "I wish you had turned your application in," she spoke softly, beginning to realize the fact that she was going to a new school and Tai wouldn't be there. He frowned and shrugged, "You know I wouldn't have made it. My grades are terrible."

"That's only because you don't try!" She yelled in frustration. "You're brilliant when you want to be, you would have aced the entrance exam and they would have been _forced_ to take you." Tai looked down guiltily at the ground.  

Sora had always had unfaltering faith in him, but he could never understand why; it seemed like he was always disappointing her. For years she had been encouraging him to bring his grades up and do his homework, but he had ignored her requests and saw the letdown in her face every time she glanced at his report card. Now this, all he had to do was turn in a sheet of a paper, and he had somehow let her down again.

In first period they took their usual seats side by side just as the bell rang. "You're not mad at me…are you?" Tai asked, worried that his companion was being unusually quiet. "Of course not Taichi," she whispered back as Mr. Yegemi began talking about the lesson plan for the week, "It's just, I'm-" 

"Miss Takenouchi?" Yegemi interrupted menacingly. Sora's head popped up immediately, giving full attention to her teacher. "If you and Mr.Kamiya are going to be planning you're wedding, please do so outside of my class room," he said, evoking light laughter from the class. Sora sank in her chair with a blush, silently thankful she hadn't asked Mr.Yegemi for a recommendation to TAGAT (Tokyo Academy for the Gifted and Talented that is). Tai glared threateningly at those who had laughed and then sat coolly back in his seat, giving an indifferent look to his teacher.

Noticing this, Sora kicked him hard in the shin and threw a fake smile to Mr.Yegemi so class could resume once again. She quickly took out her notebook and began jotting down notes furiously, shaking her head slightly and making sure not to look at her friend.  

Tai smiled widely at her behavior, Sora was such a goody-two-shoes. _And because you're such a slacker, you're about to lose her,_ he reminded himself. Awkwardly, he reached for his empty notebook, coughed a little to hide the noise he was making,…and for the first time ever, began taking notes.

~~

Chapter 2 should be up soon :) Reviews are much appreciated!!!

Best wishes,

Soragirl

"Have you hugged an author today? Write a review and make ones day."


	2. A Four Hour Drive

Authors note: Once again, I had to change the geography and culture of Japan to fit the plot (Summers Sensei would murder me if she saw this ^_-) so no, Odaiba isn't 4 hours from Tokyo, but in this fic it is! ;)

Dedication: To Litanya, kawaii-Q, Vixen of Light, and BudgerigarLT. A thousand, million thanks to each of you ^______^. Your continuous support means more to me then I can express.

Now….

Chapter 2!

Sora shoved her last shirt into her suitcase. "That's all," she announced sadly to Taichi, who sat crossed-legged on her stripped bed. The empty room suddenly seemed intimidating to the two teenagers. Sora rubbed her arm, trying to keep the tears from escaping. "I can't believe this is actually happening…" she said softly. "Neither can I," Tai replied, honestly unable to comprehend a life without his best friend. 

She sat down on the bed next to him. "I always knew…I would have to leave…but…I never believed it," she whispered, her shaking voice came close to tears. She leaned her head on Taichi and he squeezed her tightly. "I'm going to miss you so much Sora," he admitted, his own voice beginning to falter. "You'll be fine. You'll still have everyone here and I'll only be a few hours away," she tried to smile. "It's not the same, and you know it," he told her seriously. 

At this, she hugged Taichi tighter and allowed for a few tears to role down her face. _Stop it Sora, _she told herself firmly. She hated when Tai was around to see her cry, afterwards, she would always realize how awkward it must have been for him and feel terrible about it. She wouldn't let awkwardness be the last emotion he had before she left. Quickly, she wiped the few tears from her cheek and sat up with a smile.

"Well," she sniffled, trying to sound cheerful, "Let's get the last of the stuff down the stairs." Tai grimaced, finding Sora's faked happiness more awkward then her crying. He wished she would let him in on more things and not try to hide what she was feeling, but then, that was what the note in his pocket was about.

About a half an hour later, a group of teens stood on the sidewalk, awaiting the big bus from TAGAT that would cart their friend away. Sora stood with her bookbag slung over her shoulder and suitcase sitting next to her, trying to make casual conversation, laughing about the change to city life; basically doing anything that would prolong her having to say her actual goodbyes. But everyone has to say goodbye sometime and there were pained faces as the speck of a bus could be seen coming from far on down the road.

"I guess this is it," Sora said, her voice cracking much more then she had intended. The group remained silent, unsure of what they could say to better the situation. She walked to each one and gave them quick hugs, wishing them goodbye and promising she would write. Last, but definitely not least, was Tai.

Throughout the whole ordeal he had stood uneasily, hands in his pockets, waiting for his turn with anticipation and dread. As Sora walked towards him, he silently prayed he wouldn't have to speak, as his voice couldn't be trusted to keep hidden the tears threatening to surface any moment. "Bye Tai," her voice cracked and on her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back with enough force to break her bones,  thinking that maybe, if he held her tight enough, she wouldn't be able to leave.

Finally, Sora gave in and started crying into her friends shoulder. Tai rested his head on hers. However, their moment was short lived and interrupted by the sound of the bus breaks. "He…he..here…" Tai stuttered, trying hard to down play his red eyes and fumbling in his pockets for a folded piece of paper. 

"Like I promised," he tried to smile, pressing the piece of paper into her hand. "Wait till you get there to read it…I don't want anyone…to like…steal it on the bus…" he finished, itching the back of her head. 

Sora, still crying, nodded, quickly hoisted up her suitcase, and made her way on to the waiting bus. She sat down quickly and waved out the window to her friends until they were completely out of view.

"Your boyfriend?" casually inquired a boy sitting in the seat across from her.  Sora looked up from the window and then glanced down at the folded piece of paper she held tightly in her hand, realizing to whom the boy was referring. 

"Tai?" she asked in surprise. The spiky blue haired teen raised an eyebrow (complete with piercing) at her. She looked down at the note again; _Sora_, scribbled on it in Tai's sad chicken scratch. She blushed, "Oh, no. He's just my friend."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't hug _my_ just friends like that," the boy remarked with a grin. Sora laughed nervously, a bit taken back the boys forwardness. "My name's James," he smiled, sliding to end of his seat and shaking Sora's hand, "and you are…?" "Sora," she smiled back. 

"Well, it was nice to meet you Sora, but we've got a four hour trip ahead of us, so I'm going to get some shut eye. See you when we get there," James said, resting his head on the side of the window. "You too," Sora mentioned quickly, before her new friend closed his eyes.

When the boy had nodded and it was clear the conversation had ended, Sora went back to staring at the note. _"Wait till you get there to read it"_ he had said, and normally, she, like anyone else in her position, would completely disregarded his wishes and opened it the first chance she got…but this time, it was different.

For months and months, Tai had been saying he had something to tell her that he couldn't say. The more she begged and pleaded, the less likely it seemed he would _ever _tell her until finally, she had struck a deal with him.

"Tai! You've got to tell me eventually! Why don't you just tell me the day I leave so that I'll be on the bus, and you won't even have to see my reaction! Pllleaasseee?" she begged. He looked over at her and laughed. "Alright," he said, "I promise."

So it was as simple as that, and from that point on, she had been waiting to find out the secret he had kept from her for so long. She had been wishing and hoping that it might be the same secret _she_ had been keeping from him. Everything seemed to indicate that it would be….and that was exactly why she couldn't open it.

She saw this as her only chance. If Tai wasn't going to tell her how he felt about her now, he probably didn't feel anything for her at all. The fate of her heart was folded inside a crumpled up piece of notebook paper, clutched tightly in her hand. Her blood raced even at the thought. 

The paper, like some kind of kryptonite, began to make her dizzy and her breathing sped up. Quickly, she shoved it into her bookbag, where she hoped it could harm her no more and distracted herself by gazing out the window. _Just four more hours_, she promised herself silently, heart still racing, _just four more hours…and then I'll finally know._

~

hehe, okay, that was a strange chapter, I know :\ and the next one is probably going to be…even stranger…because I'm using the note from the actual story the fics based on…and it gets a little…weird. But I guess that's the problem with basing things off reality, it gets a little crazy sometimes ;) Anyway, just stick with me, this baby's gonna be a long one ^_-  Also, you've probably noticed I've been referring to "the group" as "the group" and never really naming the people in it. It's not just me being lazy! I have my reasons ;) Anyway stay tuned, for chapter 3!!

Reviews, if you have the time, are greatly appreciated :)

Best wishes,

Soragirl

"Have you hugged an author today? Write a review and make ones day."


	3. The Note

AN: Okay, I warned you guys, this chapter's…a little strange…so…well… "enjoy" ;)

**_IMPORTANT_**: I thought I'd clarify some important facts before we start…since this chapter has such little substances ;)

1. Tai, Sora, and "the gang" (^_-) are in the beginning of their junior year of highschool

2. I decided to change "the gangs" hometown from Odaiba to Miyazaki (mwhaha, oh, the power of being an author) just so it made some SLIGHT geographical sense for it to be a four hour drive to Tokyo ;)

3. TAGAT (Tokyo Academy for the Gifted and Talented) is a brand-new specialty high school that covers Junior and Senior year and because applicants are accepted from all over Japan, students living more then an hour away board there.

4. You may have noticed I changed the rating to PG-13. I doubt they'll be anything very "PG-13" rated until the last few chapters..and even still, it'll probably just be very mild cursing but I like to keep the rating safe :)

That's all for now ;)

Dedication: Once again, to everyone who reviewed, thank you, thank you, thank you :D!

Are you ready for…

Chapter 3!

Sora started silently at the note, now sitting on the bare blue mattress of her new bed. _Open it Sora_, she told herself forcefully, yet made no move to touch the paper. _But think of what could be in it! He could be telling me that he knows how I feel, and wants me to leave him alone! He could telling me that he's hated me for years and is glad to see me go! He could be telling me that he has to enter into the witness protection and he can never talk to me again!!!_ she argued frantically, sending herself to the verge of a panic attack.

_Sora, get a hold of yourself,_ the more logical part of her spoke, _You know nothing like that would ever happen. Just read the note._ Sora took a deep breath, grabbed the note, and opened it up before she could change her mind. Still not fully convinced the note wasn't going to be a proclamation of hate or telling her something she had done to upset him, she looked only at the last line.

"_I'm going to miss you immensely." _

Fearing she would explode with joy if she read the rest of the letter, she shut it up again and began giggling uncontrollable. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" she squeaked, dancing around the room. Though she wasn't sure if it was a love letter exactly, it certainly wasn't a hate letter and that was enough for her to celebrate. 

She was blushing fiercely, though not exactly sure why, and a strange bubbly feeling spread throughout her whole body. She fell down on the empty bed and closed her eyes with a smile and a sigh. _"I'm going to miss you immensely"._ He was going to miss her…he **did **care.

The opening of a door interrupted her thoughts. "Oh, hello, I'm sorry if I…um…disturbed you. My name is Meichico…I'm going to be your roommate," said a brown haired girl from the doorway, looking inquisitively at Sora. 

Sora quickly surveyed her. Her soft brown hair was held back slightly by one of those…bouncy butterfly clips (points subtracted right there). She was wearing green Abercrombie shirt, short jean skirt, some of those really pointy high heeled shoes (MAJOR point deduction), and her petite hands were adorned with perfectly manicured nails. It was safe to say she'd probably be a better roommate for Mimi…but still, Sora and Mimi were friends after all, so there was no harm in giving this girl a chance. 

"No, don't worry about it, I was going to have to get up soon anyway," Sora smiled and noticed the three big suitcases piled around the girl. 

"Here, let me help you with that." She said, walking over and lifting up one of Meichico's suitcases. "My names Sora." At this, Meichico breathed a sigh of relief, her roommate, wearing baggy jeans and a lose Nike hoodie, may have been a tomboy, but at least she wasn't insane. The two quickly got to unpacking and talking and the note, though not forgotten about, was put on hold.

~

Three or four hours later, the two girls had their room looking fairly presentable. Beds were made, clothes put away, empty suitcases were shoved into the closet. Meichico had headed down to grab some dinner but Sora had declined her invitation. "I'm not hungry," she assured her, "but I'll be down later."

Not five seconds after Meichico exited the room, Sora dashed over and pulled out the note from her book bag once again. While she was still nervous, she was absolutely determined to read the whole thing this time. She opened it with purpose and forced herself to keep it open. _Read it NOW_, she commanded herself, _or it will only get harder_. She let her eyes fall on the first lines and was unable to pull them away.

_"Simple, but hard to say to someone's face. God bless the internet. Anyway, finally you get to hear it :P the fact is, you're the best friend I've ever had, but it goes farther then that. This is the reason I can't let us lose touch. So all that aside, what I'm trying to say is summed up to the very word in the Juliana Theory- the Closest Thing except for the "get to know you" part. I know its pitiful I had to put you through all of that, but you know when people have secrets they want to get out they give a person incentive to ask what it is. Whatever, I won't finalize this because I'll see you later on this week. (I just finalized it) I'm going to miss you immensely._

_-Tai"_

Sora, fueled by the energy of a giddy happy, immediately hoped over to the computer, impatiently clicked off the screen saver, started up google, typed in "The Juliana Theory- The Closest Thing", and clicked on the first link that popped up. 

_"You're the words that come out easy,_

_And I am speechless at best._

_Your star it seems to shine above the rest._

_You're the face before the cameras,_

_The smile I'd like to earn._

_The closest thing to perfect,_

_In a hollywood to burn._

_You're the beauty that is deeper,_

_Than eyes can merely see._

_The closest thing to perfect._

_But the farthest thing from me._

_I'd love to be,_

_The shoulder that you cry on._

_I'd love to be,_

_The friend you call when things are great._

_You're the dream that hasn't ended,_

_And i'm still anxious for rest._

_Your words they seem to hang above my head._

_You're the bud before the flower,_

_Unfurls into full bloom._

_Captivating beauty,_

_But it maybe all too soon._

_You're the song that writes a story,_

_But leaves alot to read._

_The closest thing to perfect,_

_But the farthest thing from me._

_And like I really deserve a chance to,_

_Sit across the table,_

_And tell you that I think you're wonderful._

_And I think you're something special._

_I guess this is my only chance to,_

_Say I wish I knew you,_

_Because I'm sure you're wonderful,_

_If I'd get to know you."_

As she read the words over and over again, she was on the verge of tears. She sniffed, smiled, and whispered the only phrase she could think of to express all she was feeling….

"..stupid, brilliant Tai."

AN: Okay, yes, I realize the note was a little eloquent for Taichi, but like I said using the real note and when I tried to change the wording to make it more "Tai-like" I messed it up completely, so I just left it how it was. Not to mention, the note was a little "anti-climatic". I know a lot of you were expecting a love confession, so was I!! ^_- But I've just got to tell it like it happened ^_-. Also, I think we'd all agree this chapter was pretty meat-and-potatoes-surface-value-spitting-facts-at-you but I needed one of those to get the note and the song out there. Chapter 4 *looks briefly at the beginnings of chapter four* er…well, it _should_ be better ;) It's got the reappearance of James, which might make some of you happy! ;D It should be up with in a few days :)

Thanks for the reviews!! ^_^ ,

Soragirl

"Have you hugged an author today? Write a review and make one's day! :D!" 


	4. Dancing on the Edge

Chapter 4

For the next two days no matter HOW hard she tried, Sora could not bring herself to do anything but read over Tai's note and listen to that song. She analyzed every single word; its position, its meaning. She scoured over it meticulously for hours…but the more she looked…the more she noticed Tai had said nothing about love. 

Yes, the note and the song had been sweet beyond all reckoning…but what was there to suggest it was anything but platonic? "_You're the best friend I've ever had_" didn't exactly sound like a love confession…but what was "_ it goes farther then that_" suppose to mean!? In truth, the note that was suppose to answer all her questions had actually left her more confused and only more determined to find out how Taichi really felt.  

Despite this, the note had turned from kryptonite into some kind of drug. Every time she read it, she would become indescribably happy and nothing else would matter. She slept with it under her pillow at night and carried it with her everywhere. It reminded her that no matter what, **someone cared**, and that seemed to be the only thing in the world that made any difference. 

This little euphoric world was often interrupted when Sora realized she had to find a way to respond to Tai. She would get nervous, try to figure out what she wanted to say and how she wanted to say it…and then quickly let the idea slip from her head, promising herself she would do it in a little bit. 

However, three days later, she knew Taichi would be getting worried that he hadn't heard from her. Obviously, she couldn't talk to him and _not _mention the note…so yes, she would have to reply.

It took her almost an hour to write it all out, editing the email down to the placement of the very last comma. At one point she had been bold enough to type, "…what I mean Tai, is…I think I'm in love with you." Of course, that sentence that sentence was deleted as quickly as it was typed out. Instead, she used the same strategy as Tai had used. She danced around what she really wanted to say, hinting at her feelings…hoping that he if felt the same, he would catch the hints she was dropping and if he didn't…he wouldn't even notice them.

And as much as she obsessed over the email…it really wasn't much. Basically a thank you for  "the nicest thing anyone has EVER said to me", a guarantee that he _was_ the shoulder that she cried on and the one she called when things were great ,and that they would _never_ lose touch because she would be lost without him. She was even bold enough to sign "…_I_ will miss _you_ more then you know :\" which she saw as a big step.

When she was content with the email, she sent it off, signed offline, and plopped on her bed. Thankful Meichico had gone out again (unlike Sora, some of Meichi's friends had made it into TAGAT and she spent most of her time hanging out with them), she pulled out "the note" and a picture of Tai, Mimi, and Matt from beneath her pillow. She smiled widely at the picture but more specifically, at Taichi. He stood awkwardly with his newfound height, back bending slightly in a nervous "why-is-she-making-me-take-this-stupid-picture" kind of way.

While Matt and Mimi (dating at the time), stood close together with Matt's arm snaked around Mimi's waist, Tai stood completely aloof from the group. Sora had gone to great lengths to get him to agree to pose for the picture at all and while he was unhappy about the whole business and about standing next to the "happy couple"…he still wore his goofy trademark smile. 

It was almost like for just a second, he had forgotten about the picture and about Mimi and Matt and was simply smiling at Sora, standing in front of them, happily urging them to stand still and 'smile big'. Anyone looking at the picture could see it, the boy could obviously care less about the two people on his right hand but his eyes seemed to be staring directly into the camera…or directly past it. It was like-

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"You can come in Meichi, it's your room too you know," Sora laughed as she quickly shoved the picture and note back under her pillow and grabbed a book off of her nightstand.

 "It's James, from the bus," called a voice from the other side. Sora was shocked. Why was he here? How did he even know what room she was staying in? "Can I still come in?" James asked patiently from outside the door. Sora glanced quickly at her clock, 3:05. Boys were allowed in the girl's rooms until 6. 

"Sure," Sora said and got up quickly to open the door. 

"Hey," James smiled as he entered, closing the door behind him. 

Sora blushed nervously; she definitely wasn't comfortable having a stranger with an unknown agenda in her room. "Something you need?" she asked, looking up to meet his eyes. She hid a smile; he was tall, like her Taichi…but that was about the only similarity. His blue hair, pierced eyebrow, baggy jeans, Drop Kick Murphy's shirt and the way he laid down coolly on her bed, arms behind his head…were all very un-Taichi-like.

"Just came to see how you were liking it so far," he said. He grimaced a little and dug his hand under his back, withdrawing the small black notebook he had laid down on. "What's this?" he questioned slyly. Sora blushed again and quickly snatched the notebook from him. 

"I like to write," she said, sitting down on Meichico's bed, opposite to hers. 

"Cool," he grinned, "Maybe I could read you're stuff sometime, unless it's all just love poems to that Tai guy." 

She blushed, what on earth was going on? Was he…_flirting_ with her?! _Ignore it, ignore it and it will go away…you're probably wrong anyway_, she insisted. "Well, I don't write love poems. Mostly short stories…" she answered, trying to sound casual when she desperately wanted this conversation to end. 

"That's good," he laughed, "You know-"

"Oh! Sorry! I knew I should have knocked!" Meichico squeaked as she quickly turned to exit the room again.

 "NO!" Sora yelled loudly, "I mean…no…it is your room too, after all." She turned to James, who was eyeing Meichico with interest. "James, this is my roommate, Meichico. Meichico, this is James." 

James stood up and much to her surprise, shook Meichico's hand, "Pleased to meet you." 

"I better head out…but it was nice talking to you Sora," he smiled, "We should do it again sometime…and maybe I can read some of those stories of yours." 

"Uh…yeah…" Sora responded hesitantly as the boy exited. 

"He's _cute_," Meichico mentioned as she sat down and began taking off her shoes.

"That was the weirdest experience I've ever had," Sora stated plainly. She stared into the distance, still looking quite shocked. 

"What do you mean?" Meichi asked, giggling at the expression on her roommates face. 

"He just came in here! Like it was nothing! Like we'd been friends for ages! And he was too smiley!!!" Sora panicked. 

"Calm down! Calm down!" Meichico said, laughing so hard she could barely breath, "He _likes_ you, that's all." 

"_Likes _me?" she questioned, horrified, "What if I don't want him to _like _me!?" 

Meichi sighed, "You don't have a choice in such matters Sora."  Sora nodded in knowing agreement and decided to drop the subject before Meichico thought was completely insane.

She sighed, spent, and looked toward the closed door, _I wish Taichi were here._

Next chapter: More Taiora fluff ^_- Sora goes to her first day of orientation, a response is received, and a new tradition is formed ;)

I know this chapter was a short one so you don't have to review if you don't want too :) I've written up to at least…chapter 10 (right about where the climax comes in :O!)  in rough draft…but going over each chapter before posting is a long, meticulous, and boring process so you shouldn't expect 6 for a while (darned exam week -_-). Still, I'll try to get it up as soon as I can. As always, thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter I appreciate it GREATLY *worships ground they walk on* but I don't want to wear you out, so really, feel free to review this chapter, but I will not be offended if you don't :)  

Best wishes,

Soragirl


	5. God Bless The Internet :P

Dedication: As always, to everyone who reviewed, thank you beyond all reckoning, because I simple can't thank you enough *GIANT HUG OF DOOM* I LOVE YOU! ^_^ HAPPY VALETNINES DAY!

Chapter 5

She had finally gotten a reply from Taichi and sadly, but not surprisingly, he hadn't caught any of her hints. He included a small something telling her not to worry; she would do great at TAGAT and the "team" was rooting for her but otherwise, it was business as usual and normal conversation resumed. 

In fact, normal conversation _abounded_ and most, if not all, of Sora's time was spent talking to Taichi. So by the time the week finally ended and it was time for orientation, Sora knew only two people: Meichico and…James. She mentioned this problem to Taichi and he assured her she would make more friends at orientation. 

Orientation, however, was rough. The teens awoke at 5, got dressed, ate breakfast, walked from the dorms to the school, and were spilt into groups. Of course, Sora was in a group all by herself with no Meichi or James to keep her company. 

It seemed to go on for hours as teachers droned on monotonously about the rules of the dorms, the rules of the school, lockers, books, classes, and every other boring thing that could possibly be droned on about. The school was huge; six flights of stairs with seemingly endless hallways. Sora felt lost and tiny as others laughed and joked with their friends. She sat by herself mostly, silently wishing the day would just hurry up and end.

12 hours later, it did, and a group of exhausted teens walked to dinner and then back to their dorms. Meichico, who usually stayed out late with her friends, fell face first onto her bed with a loud "Hmph!" Sora laughed lightly, too exhausted to do much else. "Sleeep," Meichico moaned. 

"Yeah, I'm going to bed in a second," Sora said a little too late, Meichico was already fast asleep. The redhead smiled and tiredly pulled up the computer chair. 

She had lost her schedule for tomorrow and one of the guidance counselors promised they would try to email it to her before the day was over. She wanted desperately to talk to Taichi but she knew he was spending the night at a friend's and wouldn't be able to get online. She scanned her buddylist for "SoccerStr07" in vain and conceded to checking her email for the schedule.

There it was, "Schedule for Ms.Takenouchi"…but right under it, "Yo :P" from sender "SoccerStr07".  Tai had emailed her! He always knew just what to do to make her feel better. She quadruple clicked the link in excitement and growled at the speed of the school connection as she waited for it to load.

"_man, all day i haven't been able to stop thinking about how awesome our_

_friendship is. i couldn't ask for anything more, you're truly the best _

_:) i just want to hug you so much right now; hope you had a good orientation _

_:]_

_Tai_"

"Eh!" she squeaked joyfully, evoking a "Uuuhmphhhrrrrrrr" from somewhere in the room. "Sorry Meichico," she blushed, realizing her roommate was trying to sleep. She read over the email again but this time, squeaked only on the inside. 

If Tai was anymore sweet, she would explode. In a brief moment of sanity, she reprimanded herself for her previous two squeaks. Was she letting Tai turn her into some…squeaky little love struck girl!? She read over the email again, and smiled, yup.

She quickly typed a reply, telling him how much _she _wanted to hug _him_, how incredibly much orientation had sucked, how much better it would have been if he had been there, and how horrible the next two years without him would be. It was a rant really, nothing more, made from desperately wanting to be away from this place…this stupid place that was so far from home. 

She sent it off and climbed into bed, physically unable to get Tai off her mind. The clock blinked 7:33 and any other night she would still be awake, probably talking to Taichi. But something about this place…it drained the life out of you, left you feeling empty and hopeless. She was fairly certain without Taichi, it would eat her alive…but she _would_ always have Tai and TAGAT _was_ an automatic ticket to any college she wanted…

…still, she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe this wasn't the best decision after all.

~

"Homework on the first day," Sora said, shaking her head in disgust and dropping her fifty-pound book bag onto the floor with a thud. 

"Tell me about it," Meichico grumbled, dropping her own book bag. 

"That was insane," Sora whispered breathlessly, "Please tell me I wasn't the only one completely lost." 

"No," Meichi agreed in a daze, "That was definitely crazy. I mean, how in the world can they expect us to do this?! I've already been assigned projects in almost all my classes!"

"I know, me too…and I'm probably going to have to get a new book bag," Sora said sadly, glancing down at her bag, which was just about ready to bust. 

Meichi giggled from her place on the floor and slowly rolled over onto her stomach. "The homework calls to me…but my body refuses to answer," she yawned. 

Sora smiled and sighed, "Mine knows it has to answer…" She unhappily unzipped her bag and yanked out a ten-pound global studies book, tossing it onto the bed. 

"Mine too," Meichico admitted grumpily, taking great effort to pull herself from the floor. "I think I'm going to head to Gina's room to work on it, okay?" she asked but Sora knew she wasn't _really_ asking.

 "Sure," she smiled fakely, sensing a boring and lonely night of studying ahead of her. 

"See you later," Meichi said, hoisting up her book bag and making her way out of the room.

The room was cold and empty. It was absolutely silent, allowing Sora to hear the laughter that seemed to be in every other dorm. _It doesn't matter,_ she told herself, _you have friends at home…you don't need friends here_. As another burst of laughter cut into her, she repeated the words more determinedly, trying to force herself to believe them;_ **I don't need friends here**._ She put on some headphones to drown out the laughing and opened her global studies book to page 301, "The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire"….It was going to be a long night….

Sora finished up all the homework that _had_ to be done that night and left the rest untouched. She decided to skip dinner and instead, ravaged the pack of Oreos she had brought with her. She jumped on the computer around 7:06, exhausted, but anxious to tell Tai about her day.

She was greeted almost immediately by,

 "SoccerStr07: _Hey! :)_"

"_Hey_" she typed back with a smile, Taichi's-semi-presences making her feel better already. 

Two hours later, Meichico had come back to the dorm to find Sora still smiling happily at the computer. She mentioned she was going to bed and Sora only nodded in acknowledgement, busy with her conversation. 

"Sora," Meichico said, not happy at being ignored, "We _do_ have class tomorrow you know."

 "I know," Sora laughed and she continued typing, "I'll go to bed soon, promise." Meichico sighed and put on her bed mask, at least _she _would get some sleep.

_Seven _hours later, Sora was still smiling happily at the computer, however, she realized 4:14 was not a good time to be awake when she had to get up at 6 the next day. _Taichi,_ she typed, _I should really go to bed… I've got class tomorrow._

Don't leave me!! Just stay a little longer! :`(, Tai typed back. She frowned, but in the end, he persuaded her to stay…if not merely by the fact that he wanted her to. She didn't want to leave Tai, but she was absolutely exhausted and really needed some rest. 

About an hour later, Sora had gotten back into the conversation and had forgotten about the time until she realized, AN: Okay, don't shoot me for the pathetic screen names :P

TnnisNrd: _Oh my god,Tai, THE SUN IS OUT. THE SUN IS OUT. It is LIGHT out. _

SoccerStr07: _Yeah, here too_

TnnisNrd: _I can't believe we stayed up this late! I'm going to fall asleep during class…this is not good._

SoccerStr07: _I don't know…it's kinda cool that we're both up to see the sun rise…like you're  not so far away…_

TnnisNrd: _heh, yeah…I guess so :\ _

TnnisNrd: _ I really do have to go, if someone realizes I was up this late, I'll be in big trouble…I'm happy we got to talk though._

SoccerStr07: _*jumps in front and takes bullet*_

TnnisNrd: _nerd ;P I'll talk to you later Taichi, night :)_

SoccerStr07: _Sweet dreams :)_

She signed off quickly and ran to her bed, shoving her head under the pillow. Still, she knew it was no use. It was light out, her body knew it was morning, there was no way she would get even those 2 more hours of sleep. _Stupid Tai,_ she thought grumpily as lay silently awake in her bed and waited for the day to begin.

~

"Started around 1348…wiped out half the population of Italy…" Sora mumbled as her hand began to cramp from writing the five-page paper on the Black Plague.  "_Why _do I need to know this?" she questioned grumpily, lifting her head up from her notebook.

"Sora, it's our third week here, I think we all know they teach us _everything_….except what we need to know," Meichico joked from her seat next to the computer. Sora frowned slightly, jealous that Meichi was able to keep such high spirits. 

Three weeks in and she was still Sora's only real friend. Sure, there were a few people who knew her name and would say hello as they passed by, but no one who would waste any more time on her then that.

Meichi, however, remained great friends with the group of kids from her school. By having them to laugh with, it seemed the school didn't get to her as much. Her friends seemed to shield her from the soul-sucking power TAGAT held but Sora, friendless, was feeling it's full effects. 

She always reminded herself that she still had Taichi, Matt, Mimi, Izzy, Joe…even Kari and TK…but it just wasn't the same. They didn't understand the hell this place was; they couldn't. Not to mention, her late night talking sessions with Tai left her tired and irritable in the morning.

But she would never give those up; they were the only things that kept her sane. Three or four times they had stayed up past day break together and countless other times they had been up past 1.  Conversations only ended when it _absolutely essential_ for one of them to go to bed…and even then, the end was met with resistance. Sora remembered three nights ago when Tai had been pleading more then usual for her to stay on, but she simply couldn't. The next day, when she finally checked her email, Tai had written:

_lalala :D_

_you left, but i still feel like talking to you_

_*tries really hard to think of something to say*_

_argh, cant think of anything :|_

_cant stop thinking about you,_

_Tai_

Of course, she couldn't attribute her sanity solely to Tai. She had been talking a lot to Matt and Mimi and received the occasional email from the rest. Sometimes, when Tai went to get food or go to the bathroom, Kari would even pop on the computer and say hello. 

As of late, she hadn't had much time to talk. Teachers were cramming projects in like mad and no matter how long she slept on the weekends, she always felt tired. Early on in the year, she had tried out for the school play and rehearsal had just recently began. It kept her at school until 7 at least and the director had already promised that on "tech week" they'd be as late as eleven o' clock. 

Sora looked down sadly at her paper, not even half way through. She had just gotten up to stretch when the phone rang. "Moshi Moshi!" Meichico answered happily. She paused, listening to the voice on the other line. "Oh, yes she is, hold on one moment," Meichico covered the receiver with her hand, a surprised look on her face, "Sora, its for you." 

_Hah_, Sora thought bitterly, _she didn't think I had **any** friends._

"Hello?" Sora said picking up the phone.

"Hey, Sora, it's Mimi!" came the cheerful response from the other line.

"Hey!" Sora laughed, glad to hear from a friend. Of course…Mimi never made the most "tantalizing" conversation but Sora was fine with that…. She knew that her friends were busy with their own lives and didn't really have time to worry about her so she really appreciated when they took the time to call.

An hour or so later, Mimi was still droning on about how "Sandy had told Cindy but Cindy told Sally, but really, I was the first one with the pink handbag" and Sora was still working hard on her Black Plague essay, remembering every once and a while to add the appropriate "Mmhmm"'s and "Really?"'s to the conversation.

"But I guess what I'm really calling about…"

"Mhmm…" Sora said mindlessly as she quoted a primary source.

"Is well, I think I'm in love…"

"Really?" She mumbled, clearly uninterested, as she flipped around for the page number. Okay, yes, she had heard Mimi, and with any other person she would have been shocked at the use of the "l-word" but Mimi thought she was "in love" every other minute. She was in "love" with Joe back when they were younger, she was in "love" with Matt until he decided…he…er…well, wasn't too interested in girls, and just a week ago she had been "in love" with Izzy. She used the word so freely that it no longer held any real meaning.

It used to make Tai _furious_. "How can they even _think_ they know what love is at this age? They'll be broken up by next week," he would growl at Mimi and Matt, off by themselves, cuddling and professing their love for each other. Sora would laugh, and agree, both of them claimed to be "totally against dating at this age". And she really _did _agree…but she had known Tai for such a long time…and it just seemed like most of the time, he was only person who really, honestly cared if she lived or died…and she wasn't even calling it "love"…she just knew it was the closest thing she had ever felt to it.

"No, really Sora," Mimi insisted, "This time…it's for real…"

"Mhmm…" Sora yawned, still not convinced. After all, Mimi had said it was "real" every time before.

"But he's so sweet and funny and caring and…just _everything_," Mimi sighed dreamily.

"Really?" Sora asked rhetorically. _Hmm…so the plague spread to Italy when they flung the infected dead bodies into the city by catapult? _

"Really, really." Mimi giggled, "I am really in love with Taichi Kamiya." 

"…"

"…"

"Sa…say that again?" Sora squeaked fearfully, giving all her attention to the phone conversation.

"I am _really_ in love with Taichi Kamiya," Mimi stated happily.

_No. No. No. NO. Quick Sora, talk her out of it._

"Ha..hah…uh? You don't _really_ like Tai! He's so…annoying! And he's always falling…and…" Sora whimpered, desperately searching for more of Tai's bad qualities.

"Oh but Sora, he's smart and caring and funny and sweet and caring…or wait…did I already say that?" she giggled again. 

"No, Mimi, really…he's not the guy for you…I thought you liked Izzy anyway!" Sora reminded her franticly. This is couldn't be happening…. Mimi ruled over the male species with an iron fist. If she had her sights set on Taichi, she would get him.

"I am like, sooo over him Sora! You should know that! But like, ooohh my god, yesterday, Tai _totally_ smiled at me and I knew I was in love and so like I messed up his hair and…"

Sora suddenly felt very ill, "Mimi…I've got to go…I'll talk to you later. Okay?"

"Oh, okay Sora, I'll talk to you later!" she replied, totally oblivious.

_Don't worry Sora_, she told herself, as she hung up the phone, _Tai doesn't like Mimi…he won't cave to her girly powers…_Tai had always thought Mimi was incredibly immature and annoying…but then, Mimi's "powers" had proved too strong for many a boy. The hair toss, the playful fighting, the hat stealing…how would Tai be able to resist without Sora there to roll her eyes at Mimi's flirting?! She knew she stood no chance against Mimi… she hadn't the slightest idea of how to flirt and she knew she wasn't the most gorgeous girl in the world. 

She glanced over at her picture, now sitting in a frame beside her bed. Tai's goofy smile and his deep brown eyes locked confidently on hers gave her some reassurance. She smiled a bit hesitantly….No, she promised herself… her Taichi wouldn't fall.

Authors Notes: As you might be able to tell, I smushleded three really small chapters into one really big chapter because I've been putting small ones up for so long! :) Like I said, right now, its all pretty much fluff and will be…for like a chapter or so more…but then we start getting into the real stuff (thankfully ^_-). Honestly, I don't know what to think about this fic. Usually when I write I start with a backbone, a beginning, an end, a concept to work with…and then fill in using what "feels right". But with this fic, I have a backbone, a beginning, an end and not a concept…but an entire story that I'm basically writing down. While it makes the process a lot quicker…I don't really know if what I'm writing make sense or is necessary and sometimes, even when I know something is nonsensical or unnecessarily, I _have_ to put it in, because that's what happened…it's all very strange it makes me nervous beyond all belief…but it is a story that must be told so be told it SHALL! ;)  

Oh! Also, in chapter four, the "…"s got turned into periods. I'm going to try to fix that sometime…but not today ;)

Chapter 6:

A typhoon hits Sora's hometown and we approach a turning point. ^_-

Stay tuned but if you find yourself not liking this fic…don't hate me! I'm trying something different! ;)

Reviewers are always loved, appreciated, and huggled. ^_^

Love to all, 

Soragirl

P.S. Thanks for the good luck Litanya! It helped! I aced all my exams! ^_-


	6. A Telephone Call

Dedication: To everyone who reviewed, I love you! A million thanks! ^______________________^

Chapter 6

"PICK UP TAI!" Sora yelled through the phone and, obviously, got no response. Irritated, she clicked the phone off and threw it onto the bed. "Stupid Tai," she grumbled, pacing around the narrow space beside her desk.

Two nights ago, a typhoon had hit the Kyushu region of Honshu, devastating the hometowns of many of the students at TAGAT, including Sora's. Thankfully, Ms.Takenouchi had left Miyazaki about a month ago to visit a relative in the US but Sora's friends weren't quite as lucky. Most of the phone lines were down and she was unable to contact any of them.

She did all her homework in the commons, eyes glued to the TV, awaiting any word on Miyazaki. Her stomach turned every time they showed pictures of the damage, wondering how her friends were doing. Thankfully, there were only nine reported deaths throughout all of Kyushu, which gave her some relief.  Still, she wished desperately she could hear from at least one of her friends and make sure everyone was all right. 

However, she knew defeat when she saw it. She had called Taichi at least 20 times in the last hour and gotten no answer. _I guess now…I wait_, she thought sadly and continued picking at the lunch she had taken up from the cafeteria.

It was about fifteen minutes later when the phone rang. Needless to say, Sora jumped to pick it up. 

"Hello?!" She answered anxiously.

"Uh, hey Sora," came the response.

"TAICHI!" she exclaimed in relief, "I was SO worried! I saw the storm on TV but I hadn't heard from any of you and I didn't know if…but it's okay now. How are you? Are you alright? How's Kari? Matt? TK? Joe? Izzy?"

Taichi smiled at his friends frantic concern, "Just fine. Electricity's out and the phones are down but nothing too serious; no one hurt."

She sighed gratefully, "Good."

"Yeah, and schools are off for the rest of the week…so well," he paused and let out a laugh, looking around the commotion filled bus stop, "Well, I'm on my way up there."

"What?" Sora laughed in excitement.

"Yeah, that's how I was able to call you. I'm taking the bus up to Tokyo. We're boarding more people at Fukuoka and I'm using the pay phone there. We should be reaching Tokyo in another couple of hours…I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not!" she squeaked, Taichi was coming to see _her_. Mimi was back in Miyazaki and Taichi was coming to Tokyo to see _her_. "I just…I'll have to skip Trig…but that doesn't matter…Tai, this'll be so great… do you know how to get to the school?"

 "No," Tai admitted, "but I've got money for a cab. What's your room number?" 

"Well, I'm in the honors dorms, 247. But I'll try to make it to the front in time to greet you." She said, smiling so wide it hurt.

"Okay! I'll see you then Sora!" Tai said, smiling just as wide. He hung up the payphone he was calling from and paused. Sora was right, this was going to be great. With that thought, he boarded back onto the bus and prepared himself for the three-hour drive.

Sora hung up the phone with a thought of her own; _this has to be perfect_. She had to look perfect. She had to _be_ perfect. She had to, or she stood no chance against Mimi. She looked sadly at her image in the mirror. Large black t-shirt, a pair of guys khaki cargos, and shoulder length straggly orange hair…She imagined Mimi, short mini skirt, pink tank top, and perfectly groomed golden locks. She sighed, yes, this was going to take a while.

About a half an hour later she emerged from the shower, freshly cleaned and smelling like vanilla body wash. The dorms were completely silent but for the faint squeaking of each floorboard she stepped on. She cringed with each squeak, the silence a reminder that everyone else was in class, like she should be.

Of course she felt guilty…but Tai was much more important then science or math. This would be the first time she'd seen him in months and might be the last time she saw him for quite a while. How could quantitative functions compare to that? 

She dried off with the towel she had wrapped around herself and began her search for "the perfect outfit". She rummaged through her cabinets, pulling out the girliest clothes she could find and laying them out on her bed…she was left with a very limited selection.

In the end, she decided on a knee length black skirt with purple trim and matching tight purple blouse. They were her church clothes, by far the nicest things she owned, and she knew Taichi would be suspicious. That's why she had planned right away to apologize for her appearance and claim she had a speech today, which she was required to dress up for. 

She looked in the mirror...and as much as she smoothed and straightened it never looked right. In the end, she simply had to accept the fact that she wasn't as pretty as Mimi or Meichico or any of those other girls…and no amount of stretching or straitening would change that.

Discouraged, she sadly slipped on a pair of black, knee high boots and looked herself over again. _Jewelry_, she decided, _jewelry might help_. Though it was a common fact that Sora never wore jewelry, she still owned some, mostly from relatives who didn't know her at all but sent her the occasional birthday gift. She kept it all in a wooden jewelry box her grandmother had given her before she passed away. She opened the box and sifted through until she finally found something. 

It was a small silver necklace with a purple flower charm. The flower itself was very pretty but written in tiny bubble letters directly in the center was "Flowa Powa!"(she silently cursed Aunt Besty's taste in jewelry). Still, it was the only purple necklace in the whole box and chances were, Taichi wouldn't be able to see the tiny phrase written on it.

She quickly brushed and blow-dried her hair. She "borrowed" a few of Meichi's _thousands_ of hair products and applied "liberally". By the time she was finished, even _she _couldn't deny her hair looked nice. She couldn't resist running her hand through it every other second. A bit more cheerful, she began putting back Meichi's hair products when she knocked over a large pink bag.

A large pink _makeup_ bag. She stared guiltily at the spilled contents. Was she _really_ going to abandon _all_ her beliefs? All the times she had made fun of those other girls for wearing makeup? Was she really going to surrender herself to peer pressure, just for one boy? Yes. Yes she was… but desperate times called for _extremely_ desperate measures.

And it wasn't like it was a lot. She rubbed some sparkly blueberry lipgloss onto her finger and then applied it lightly to her lips, brushed on a small amount of blush, and considered herself "made-up". 

She had one final check over in the mirror but still wasn't satisfied. _All that, _she thought, as she looked herself over, her flaws seeming to multiply, _for this? Well,_ she sighed,_ I guess this is as good as is it's going to get…but at least it's better then usual._ At that she smiled lightly and took a deep breath, _Alright then, here we go._

Author's notes: Hehe, yes, I know this chapter was pretty short and pretty frivolous but I felt it was necessary to the story and chapter 7 is going to be rather lengthy, so I figured I separate the two. See! Don't get mad! :D!! Also, the title of this chapter "A Telephone Call" is stolen from Dorothy Parker…not one of my favorite writers, but that short story is EXACTLY the emotions that will be portrayed a little further on in the story (and a lot in this chapter as well)

To Budgie- Great minds think alike my friend!! ^_^! I had been planning on sending Tai to Tokyo (mwhaha! The power of the author) after the typhoon and you're review gave me the encouragement to finally write that chapter ;)

To Kahlia- Of course you can have James! ^_- But I'm not quite done with him yet ;)

To everyone else- *Blushes gratefully* Thank you immensely! Honestly, on crappy days, your reviews are the only things that keep me from going completely insane! :)

Chapter 7:

Tai arrives at TAGAT, Taiora fluff ensues…but is everything all sunshine and flowers?

I would certainly think not ;)

Stay tuned! ^_^


	7. The Beginning of Something Bad

Dedication: As always, everyone that reviewed, you are my little angels of happy :D 

But now, to address the problem pointed out to me by Taiorafan.

No worries friend! I'm not a big fan of Mimi either ^_- I realize Chapter 6 (and perhaps some future chapters) may look like I'm doing the "Mimi pretty; Sora not" setup but that's not at all what I'm aiming for. We've already determined that Sora is attractive. Tai thinks, and I quote, she's "_the beauty that is deeper then eyes can merely see_" plus she's got James stalking her ;) In Chapter 6, I was trying to demonstrate Sora's declining self-confidence, which will become an important issue in the future. I've been writing almost entirely in Sora's POV instead of taking the "omniscient author" approach so although I did realize that Chapter 6 seemed like I was putting Sora down I couldn't exactly write in "..and this was all just what was Sora was thinking about herself.." because it didn't fit. Also, she was the only character in the scene at the time and when you think badly about yourself, it becomes the truth to you, so it just made more sense to write it down like "the truth"

Anyway, that was a long way of saying: I'm sorry! Don't hate me! (at least not yet) I'm not saying Mimi's pretty and Sora is not! I love you! ;) *giant hugs!*

But now!

Chapter 7

"That'll be 5.85, Mista," grunted the cab driver as they pulled up to a large and intimidating stone building. It looked sort of like a prison or perhaps the front office to hell…either way it didn't sit well with Taichi. Surely it couldn't really be Sora's _school_?  

 "You're sure this is it?" Tai asked nervously. 

"Yeah, this is it," the cab driver answered, tapping his hand on the wheel,"Tokyo Academy of the…yadda yadda yadda…Ya gettin' out or what kid?" 

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Tai said, fumbling through his pockets to find change. "Here," he said, handing him six dollars, "Keep the change."

The cab driver grunted in acknowledgement and sped away, leaving Tai staring frightened at the stone mass. _Wow, I guess it's a good thing I didn't come here_, he thought and turned away from the building, hoping to stop the ibee gibees it gave him. 

"TAI!" Sora squealed as soon as she spotted him and ran up to hug her friend. 

He happily accepted the hug, finding Sora a lot more pleasant then "the building from hell". "Sorry it took so long," he apologized, "We had some delays."

"It's fine," Sora smiled but noticed with fear the high pitch of her voice. "I just wish I would have known, I might have had time to change out of this," she lied as she motioned to her skirt, "We had to get dressed up for our English speeches today."

Tai laughed, knowing how much Sora loathed skirts, "Well, I'm pretty sure the next bus to Miyazaki is at 8, but I'll have to check. So that gives us…5 hours."

Sora nodded, "I guess we better get going then, come on, I'll show you my dorm."

Tai hesitated, "Okay, is just me or this place like…completely evil?"

"Nope," Sora smiled, "It's definitely evil, but let us walk, for my rooms not _quite_ as bad."

"Aye, fair maiden," he grinned, "I would follow _you_ to the ends of earth."

~

"Well, here it is," Sora said as they approached the door that read: _247_. She unlocked the door and opened it up. 

"Sora!" Meichico said as soon as she entered. "Where have you been?"

Sora's face went pale, oh no…they knew she was skipping class, they couldn't find her in her room, they had probably called the authorities… "Wh-what do you mean?" Sora asked innocently.

"James came by right before lunch ended because he had heard something about Miyazaki. You weren't in here or in the lunch room, he couldn't find you anywhere," Meichico said. James, whose hometown of Kagoshima had also been hit by the monsoon, had been a frequent visitor to the commons, monitoring the TV for word on his town with the same reverence as Sora. The two had agreed that if they heard any word on the others city, they would tell them right away. 

"James?" Taichi questioned with a raised eyebrow. 

"Uh, a friend I met here," Sora said, making sure to emphasize "FRIEND". 

Meichico eyed Taichi with a wicked little smile. "Why Sora, aren't you going to introduce us?" she said, approaching Tai a little more seductively then Sora liked.

"Meichi, this is my best friend, Taichi Kamiya. Tai, this is my roommate Meichico," Sora said in a very civil tone, though she cast a murderous glance to Meichi that said, _back the HELL off woman._ The glare, however, was unnecessary because the second Meichi heard the name "Taichi", she knew he was off limits.

"So you're _that_ Tai," Meichi said sneakily, "it's nice to finally meet you." Another death glare from Sora. Meichi giggled, "I'll just be going then, I'll tell James you're _busy_." At "_busy_" she eyed Tai mischievously and smiled. 

Once Meichico had left, Sora became a little more relaxed. Still, try as she might, she couldn't bring her voice back down from its high nervous level. She was using her stranger voice for Tai, something she had never ever done before. She was terrified that she would do something stupid the one time she got to see him and that that's how he would remember her from then on.

She was trying (pathetically) to flirt from what she'd seen Mimi do. The hair flip, the giggling; she was giving it her all, trying desperately to win Taichi over in the limited time she had. In truth, she hated it. Tai had always been the one person she had been completely relaxed around. When her father left, Sora was sure she would never be able to trust anyone again. Tai was the only person she was even beginning to trust, and that was only after years and years of friendship. 

Now, she was acting like he was some new stranger. She was uncomfortable and uneasy…all because she moved four hours away, all because she didn't want to disappoint him. He was the first person to tell her she was worth something and she didn't want him to realize how wrong he was.

She was slowly becoming more and more insecure. She grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around herself as they talked. Tai grimaced. "No," he whined, tugging at the blanket, "I want to see you." 

"I'm cold," Sora argued, "You _can _see me," 

"Well, I never get to see you. I want to see all of you," he said.

Sora blushed, stuck her tongue out, and dropped the blanket.  "There, happy?" she asked snootily, very much wanting her blanket back.

"Very," Tai smiled. "But why are you so nervous?"

She blushed again…so he _had_ noticed it. "I'm not nervous!…just really happy to see you."

Sora glanced over at the clock. "Tai.." she blushed, "We're not exactly allowed to have boys in the dorm past 6 and its 5:30 now, maybe we should take a walk?"

"Sure, let me just call the bus station so I check and make sure there's a bus at 8"

Sora nodded and threw Tai the phone. 

"Hello?…Yes, I was wondering when the next bus from Tokyo to Miyazaki was scheduled?…There's no early time?….Are you sure that's the earliest?…. Yes, sorry, of course…Thank you." He hung up and looked toward Sora, "Well, the first bus isn't until 11:30 so I'd have to leave here around 11…is that okay?"

"Of course it is! As long as you don't mind walking," she joked.

Tai grinned again, "Not at all."

~

So for the next five and a half hours the two walked and talked about nothing really at all. Occasionally they would sit down and take a break. Tai would plop down somewhere and Sora would nervously make sure she had her distance before sitting. Tai would then get back up and sit as close to her as humanly possible or make her get up and sit tightly next to him. She would do it with a blush, but felt strangely content being near to him.

On one of their stops, Sora, lacking anything better to do, showed Tai a few words in sign language, which she had started taking as her second language this year. Tai, who was in his second year of French, quickly mumbled, "Sora est intelligent, beau, et gentil." Sora caught nothing except…she could have sworn she heard a word that sounded like "intelligent".

"What did you say?" she asked. 

Taichi smirked wickedly, "Sora has 'Flowa Powa'." 

Sora blushed, punching Tai in the shoulder, "Shut up. It was the only necklace I had."

Tai laughed and continued spurting off random things in French for the next ten minutes.

"If you're not going to tell me what you're saying, just stop," she finally said grumpily

and Tai conceded.

They continued walking, as Sora nervously tried to make conversation and keep Tai from getting bored. She inquired on the status of their friends. He went through Matt, who had a new boyfriend, to Kari who had gotten a new puppy, to Izzy, newly elected computer club president, and finally, to Mimi. As Tai mentioned something about her getting the lead role in the school musical…Sora couldn't help but ask.

"Tai," she said, stopping him mid-sentence, "…do you…_like_ Mimi?"

Tai let out a loud laugh, "No."

Sora wasn't convinced. "Tai, you're my best friend, you can tell me the truth…Honestly, do you like Mimi?"

Tai smiled, "Honestly, I do not like Mimi." He caught Sora's gaze and kept it, letting off a bittersweet laugh, "I wish you could know just how far off you are."   

_Trust him Sora_, she told herself, finding that she was still very uneasy, _he said he didn't like Mimi, so he doesn't. He wouldn't lie to you._ She smiled widely at Tai who took the que to continue listing off their friends.

In unconscious nervous habit, Sora had been putting her hair and taking it back down, putting it up, taking it down, putting up, taking it down until finally-

"Sora, stop where you are," Tai said in faked urgency.

Sora froze. Oh…no, there must be a bug on her…remain calm… "Wh…Wha…Whaat iss it?" she squeaked.

"Do you realize you've done that at least 73 times?" he asked.

"Done what?…Oh.." she said, realizing where her hand was. She quickly finished the motion, putting her hair back up in a messy bun. 

"I've always liked it better like that," he smiled. Sora made a face, pulled her hair back down defiantly, and stuck out her tongue. Tai blushed slightly and laughed as Sora almost slapped herself. _Now **why** did you do that?! _ She asked herself angrily, _Do you ALWAYS have to be this difficult?_ Conversation resumed but shortly after, Sora "nervously" put up her hair. Whether or not Tai noticed…she never took it back down.

They had discussed just about every frivolous topic imaginable, went through a few long silences, and several periods of "…tell me something", "no you tell me something", "no you tell me something." When 11 oclock finally rolled around they were both utterly exhausted. Sora walked Tai to the cab he had called, gathered all her energy, and threw it into the last hug she would get from Tai in a long time. Tai however, barely hugged back. His grip was loose and disinterested, like he was simply going through the motions. Sora pulled back in surprise.

"See you," he said before stepping into the cab. He quickly mumbled something to the cab driver who sped off right away. "Well, bye then," Sora whispered after them. She stood alone in the dark and watched a faint yellow speck fade into the distance. AN: symbolism, perhaps? ;) 

~

It had been over a week since she had heard from Taichi. Matt had called a few days after Tai visited to check up and make sure everything was going all right. He had mentioned that that Tai and Kari's electricity was still out and not expected to be fixed for another week. Phone lines were down nearly everywhere and crews were just now beginning repairs. "But on the bright side," Matt had said, "School's still closed." 

Sora continued to inquire about Tai. "Sora," Matt had finally sighed, "Why don't you just tell him that you care about him?" She was thrown off by that comment, having previously thought herself as "super stealthy" (which she was obviously not). Matt had teased her about it for quite sometime and though in the end, she swore up and down that she didn't feel that way, he still knew.

"Mimi is a moron…trust me, I dated her. You don't have a thing to worry about," he told her confidently, realizing she was probably worried about the recent competition for Tai's affection. Appreciating the words of encouragement, she allowed Matt to drone on about how hot "Jake and Tommy and Brian…and the whole football team for that matter" were without bursting into giggles.

As well as her **_strictly platonic_** relationship with Matt was working out, Sora still felt horrible, unable to get her relationship (or lack thereof) with Tai out of her mind. She knew she did something wrong the day he visited, the slack hug and the fact that he hadn't spoken to her since were proof enough of that. 

She had wanted it to be perfect…and because of that, it was far from it. She hoped and hoped he would forget about whatever had made him so unhappy with her and give her a call. _He'll call me when his phone line is back up_, she promised herself. She _swore_ that she wouldn't get desperate or lonely enough to try calling him before then. No, she simply wouldn't do it.

"…uh, hi Mr.Kamiya, is Tai there?" Sora asked as she nervously twisted the coiled phone cord around her finger. She tried to calm herself down, not wanting to make the situation worse. _Relax, _she reminded herself, _it's not like **he** knows you swore you wouldn't call. _

"Yes, hold on," Mr.Kamiya answered impersonally. Sora could hear him yell "TAI! PHONE!" in the background and then a ruffling of some kind.

"Hello?" Tai answered coolly. Sora cringed. The phone lines were up, Tai was uninjured…but he hadn't bothered to call.

"Hey Tai," Sora said meekly, "..it's Sora."

"Oh, hey," he said without his usual excitement.

Sora paused…what could she say? 'I'm calling because you could care less about me but I still care about you and I'm trying desperately to get you to feel the same'? "I…I was just calling because I hadn't heard from you in a while…and I thought you might be dead or something," she finished, trying to hide hurt with humor.

Tai laughed lightly, "No…I'm alive."

Conversation continued somewhat awkwardly as Sora struggled to keep him from getting bored with her. She paced nervously as they chatted and was proud when she noticed they had hit the thirty-minute mark. Apparently Tai had noticed too.

"Uh, I've got to go Sora," he said, interrupting her story, "I'm not suppose to stay on the phone for more then thirty minutes, in case one of my dad's clients are trying to get through."

"Oh," Sora said with a blush, "Okay…I'll talk to you later then?"

"Yeah," he yawned, "Later."

She hung up the phone with a shaking hand. This was the beginning of something bad.

Dun dun da nah!

*shields herself from things being thrown at her* Ah! Don't kill me just yet! I know Sora was acting rather…stupidly…but she was really nervous, leave her alone! ^_- As I write, I watch myself put in things I know I would get mad at if I was reading this fic and think, "Uh…man, they are going to HATE that sentence…I should take it out…" but then I realize, I can't, because it's building up what will happen later on. So I understand if you hated a lot of this chapter…but I'm trying to use foreshadowing and keep it realistic…so don't get mad! Trust me, it'll all come together at the end! ^_^

Chapter 8 might take a while to get out….its really large and really…poorly written…so I'm going to have to do some MAJOR editing…and I hate editing _ Still, I'll get it up as soon as I can :)

Preview of Chapter 8!:

Homecoming dance approaches…;)


	8. An Indecent Proposal

AN: Thanks for the reviews everyone!! Much appreciated, as always ;) As for an explanation to Tai's behavior…honestly, I don't have one and none is really given in the story. The best I can tell you is that sometimes things change for the worst and of course, as always, we can blame it on the ever popular "hormones" excuse ;) I finally finished the story and I want to get the whole thing posted by tonight so my introductions might be choppy and the editing might be crappy, but at least it will all be posted :)

Quickly now

Chapter 8!

"…the due date for that is the 14 so please have your work ready by then…" Ms. Yoshido droned on. Sora's head slipped on the hand that propped it up as she drifted slowly into sleep. She struggled to keep her eyes opened as the Emerging Writers Club continued monotonously. She sat by herself in the back of the class, praying for the meeting to end but she was out of luck. Ms.Yoshido continued droning for a few more minutes before the door opened quietly and a blue haired boy peered in.

He waved at Ms.Yoshido and quickly took an empty seat towards the front of the classroom. Sora's head jerked up a bit. James? The Emerging Writer's Club had started the first week of school and in the four months since then, James hadn't been at a single meeting or expressed any interest in the club…so what was he doing here now?

He sat as quietly as she did throughout the meeting and seemed just as happy when it ended. Sora stayed after for a few minutes to apologize to Ms.Yoshido for not entering the last contest, explaining that she had been too busy to get any writing done. Ms. Yoshido understood, but Sora's apology had left her with only two minutes to get her stuff and make it up three flights of stairs. She gathered up her books quickly and trotted up the first two flights of stairs.

"Hey," James smiled, stopping her as she rounded the corner to her last flight of stairs. Sora dropped the books she was carrying with a squeak of surprise and hurried to pick them up again. James stifled his laughter and bent down to help her. 

"You know, I was only in that club today because I was looking for you," he said as he stood up and handed her her literature book.

Sora blushed, gripping her books tightly again and speed walking up the stairs, still conscious that they would probably both be late for history, "Oh? Did you need something?" 

 "I needed to ask you something," he admitted as he strained to meet her pace.

"Oh.." Sora said again, blushing even harder, "What was that?"

"Well, I'll ask you after class," he decided, realizing they were almost at their room.

They reached the room just in time to settle in for an hour and a half of Mr.Kaoto's monotonous history lecturing. Surprisingly, Mr.Kaoto had decided to play a movie today instead. Sora pulled out a notebook and started jotting down some notes on the video, suspecting an inevitable quiz. As the video turned to the conquer of Constantinople, Sora turned to James, who's eyes were locked on her. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked back to the movie.

She spent the rest of the class trying to check if James was still staring, and sure enough, every time she looked, he was. She neglected her notes, trying to imagine what he needed to ask her. Maybe he wanted help with history? No…Sora wasn't the one to ask for that. Maybe he was interested in writing? That was doubtful. A thousand scenarios played out before her but one terrible, foreboding one hung in the back of her mind.

There was a dance. Homecoming dance, to be precise. It was at least three weeks away but the students had already started talking about it (which, Sora found quite stupid…though she had been planning on asking Tai to that dance since the beginning of the year). Some part of her realized that the most sensible explanation was that James wanted to ask her to that dance and was going to after this class…but another part of her refused to believe it, knowing the kind of trouble it would cause.

Weather she believed it or not, that was what was going to happen. He approached her after class, just as promised. "What was it you needed?" She asked nervously, praying he needed find out what the math homework was.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"  he asked strangely, loosing some of his trademark James-cool.

She blushed fiercely and in the heat of the moment, all she could come up with was the truth. "No," she admitted and then wanted to slap herself. 

"So do you want to go…I mean, like, would you go to the homecoming dance with me?" he asked.

_Dammit__!_ Sora cursed mentally, she had set herself up for that one. Exactly what she didn't want to happen had happened. She had dug herself in a hole she couldn't get out of. She didn't want to hurt James feelings but she had been secretly hoping to take Taichi to her homecoming dance and going with James, even if Taichi didn't know about it, would seem like she was…betraying him somehow.

She looked desperately for an excuse and finally spit out, "I'm really sorry James, but I promised my friend I would go with him…so he could see the school…Thanks for the offer though." She added a phony affectionate smile and hoped he would buy it. James was one of the only two people who talked to her in the entire school and she'd rather not have him angry at her. 

Thankfully, any awkwardness was eliminated by Meichico who came speeding up to Sora, "Hey Sora! We're going to be late for trig!" 

"Sorry James and thanks again!" Sora called back as Meichi pulled away. For the first time in a long time, Sora wanted to give her hyper active roommate a big hug.

By her return to her dorm, Sora was beginning to think James asking her to homecoming wasn't such a bad thing after all. She had gotten out of it easily enough and hopefully spared his feelings but best of all, now she had an excuse to ask Tai to the dance. 

She had it all planned out. She would start with the story, explaining her predicament. Before he would have a chance to answer she would spring into the "…I know you hate things like this…and I can totally understand if you don't want to go…but…I mean, I would really appreciate it…"

It was flawless, there was no way Tai could resist, despite his loathing of social events. It was a loathing they had always shared, or at least, said they shared. True, Sora hated social events as much as the next tomboy but she well, _far_ from hated Taichi and ever since she met him she'd turned into more of a romantic then she cared to admit. 

She dazed off and pictured Tai and her at the dance. They would be laughing and talking until she reminded him that they needed James to think they were a "couple". She would suggest they dance and he would place his hands awkwardly around her waist. Her arms would lace around his neck and they would start to slowly rock back and forth. The music would stop, but they would continue. Somehow or another, his lips would meet hers. He wouldn't have to say anything…they would just know. She sighed like a love sick girl at the thought.

As much as she had come to treasure Matt's friendship since she started at TAGAT, she still didn't trust him completely. It wasn't that Matt was a bad person or that he given her any reason to doubt him…she simply didn't trust anyone, that is, except for Taichi…and she was just starting to trust him. She decided that if Matt asked about homecoming (she had mentioned it before and was pretty sure he would), she would tell him the same story she was telling Tai. That way, even if he wanted to tell Tai the truth, he couldn't.

 Matt called later that evening and sure enough, he asked about homecoming. Sora told him her (slightly modified) story but quickly changed the subject. Matt however, wouldn't let it drop.

"You know Sora," he said, "I could always go with you, after all, I'd like to meet some of the cute guys at your school."

Sora was quite surprised, the thought that Matt might offer to go hadn't even occurred to her. "Uh…no that's okay Matt.." she tried to convince him, "I wouldn't want you to have to go through that."

"No! No!" he insisted, "After all, what are friends for?"

"No, Matt really I-," she paused a second, realizing she was about to let it slip that she really wanted Tai to go with her. A secret that would not only risk Tai finding out, but also Matt getting hurt. "I wouldn't want to impose.." she finished weakly, knowing she was defeated. She knew how bad Matt wanted a boyfriend, he wasn't going to pass up the chance to miss a bunch of new candidates.

"Nonsense," he said, confirming her suspicion, "I'll go and that's that."

"Thanks," she said dryly, sufficiently pissed off. It was the second time that day that she had to lie to protect a friend's feeling and the second time to let her dream of a romantic night with Taichi slowly fade away.


	9. A Crumbling Foundation

AN: Edited extremely roughly…just trying to get it posted ;) please forgive mistakes in grammar and "flow" :D I love you all!

Chapter 9

Homecoming…was, interesting to say the least. Sora had had fun with Matt and even more fun watching him drool over all the boys in her grade. Still, James had been there with a tall lanky blonde who Sora had never met, but somehow despised all the same. She was jealous; the couple danced together every slow song as Sora watching on from a corner by herself, waiting for Matt to get back from checking out guys. She begged Matt to leave early but he had begged her not to go. Matt had ended up staying to socialize while Sora went back to her dorm to sleep.

A week or so later, the dance was forgotten about…mostly. After Sora left, Matt met some guy named Andy. The two had danced together once and exchanged screen names. After that, Sora couldn't have a conversation with Matt without him mentioning Andy. "How is Andy? Did you see Andy? What does Andy like? What was Andy wearing?"

Sora tried to explain she had only met the boy once at orientation and hadn't talked to him since then, but Matt wasn't interested. She would sigh, and make up answers which he would happily accept. It was a rather twisted friendship.

Another change since homecoming was the way in which James treated her. The boy who was once bordering on stalker now barely said a word to her. She suspected he had figured out she wasn't interested in him or maybe, he was just busy stalking that dumb blonde. Either way, Sora was down another friend, and not happy about it.

Conversation with Tai barely existed, and what did, was forced. As obvious as it might have been, she refused to believe their relationship was suffering, swearing to anyone who would listen that Tai would be her best friend forever and their relationship wasn't experiencing any problems. 

Neither could really help it. Sora was overwhelmed with work and had little time for friends. She refused to get anything but A's so too little sleep and too much to do left her with a fiery temper and little sympathy for anyone. The old Sora had been buried under books and papers and a new girl, one Sora wasn't sure she liked, had been forced to emerge.

Thankfully, a small amount of hope gleamed in the distance. Her old school in Miyazaki was having their homecoming in a week. She wasn't naïve enough to believe Tai would actually ask her, but she had fashioned another (hopefully more) foolproof plan to somehow make it to the dance. As with most high schools, only Miyazaki students were allowed to go to their homecoming…unless, of course, you were taken as a date. Sora planned to convince Tai she wanted to go so she because it would be a great chance to catch up with everyone. Once he was convinced, she'd explain that she needed a date to get in and he would only have to act like her date until the got in. 

She had decided she would implement the plan a week before the dance. It was the only way Tai couldn't come up with the excuse of, "Can't you find someone else?" and the only way he wouldn't realize how far in advanced Sora had everything planned out. 

Time went slowly until there was only two weeks left until the Miyazaki homecoming dance. Sora had spent the previous weeks making changes on the dress she wore to her homecoming until it was absolutely perfect (or as close to perfect as she could get it). This had meant losing countless more hours of sleep and quite a few pricks with a sowing needle…but it was worth it. It was time she won Tai back.

It was about this time that Mimi called. Hearing her voice, Sora cringed. She hadn't realized how much she disliked Mimi until lately but the more she thought about…the less reasons she could find why she was _ever_ her friend.

"HI SORA!" Mimi squeaked excitedly. 

"Hey Mimi," Sora mumbled rather monotonously. 

"Oh my god, you'll never believe what happened. Okay, so like Homecoming's coming up, right? Well, I like, totally know I'm going to be princess, because come on…really! Anyway, so I needed a date but Tai refuses to go! He actually had the _nerve_ to say that homecoming was dumb! Can you believe it!?" Mimi said, sounding genuinely offended.

A huge smile spread across Sora's face, "So…this must mean you don't 'love' him anymore? Right?"

"Oh no no," Mimi assured her happily, "It just means I have to work _really_ hard to get him to go."

Sora saw her golden opportunity. It would be too her advantage if both she and Mimi were pestering him to go to the dance. "You know," she confided, "I was thinking of going to your homecoming…but I'll need someone to pretend to be my date…maybe we could convince Tai to go for that."

Mimi was slightly offended (and rightfully so) that Tai might go for Sora, when he wouldn't go for her. All the same…it was true, Tai had always been better friends with Sora and had quite often stated that he would "do anything for her". Once Sora lured him to the dance, she would make her move.

"Yeah," Mimi said, her devious plot in mind. "We'll try that."

The conversation had ended shortly after the two had briefly discussed a few other methods of getting Tai to the dance. As soon as Sora hung up the phone, she dialed Tai as quickly as she could, knowing Mimi would do the same. Thankfully, Sora could dial that number in her sleep and got to Tai first.

"Moshi Moshi," Tai answered.

"Hey," Sora said, smiling wickedly at her victory.

"Oh, hey Sora, what's up?" He said, settling down into a chair.

"Actually, I called to ask you a favor…and I doubt you're going to like it," she answered hesitantly.

"Oh god, what?" he asked in faked fear.

"Okay, well…I know how much you hate dances and everything…but I was thinking that it would be nice way to see all of you and some of the other people from Miyazaki but, I need a date to get in. I was thinking that.." she stumbled with her words. In her rush to beat Mimi to the chase, she had forgotten that she was asking her long time crush to the homecoming dance and there was a LARGE chance that he would refuse. 

She blushed but quickly thought of Mimi…she HAD to beat her, she HAD to go through with this, "I was thinking maybe like, you could take me or something. Just as friends, of course! I just need someone to get me in!"      

Tai groaned a little, "Sora, you know how much I hate dances…can't we do something else? We could all get together at my apartment."

Sora grimaced, round one went to Taichi…he had a point. "But I want to see everyone…not just the digidestined…people like Tereza, Tomas, Padriac, and Jestabell AN: Ten points for anyone who knows where those names came from!," she quickly retorted, mentioning the names of a few people that Sora had been friends with, but not good enough friends to see unless it was a special occasion.  

Tai sighed, "I'll go if you really want to…but I would really rather do something else."

Sora frowned…she didn't want him to go somewhere he hated…maybe it would be better if they just did something else. "No Tai," she conceded, "It's alright…you shouldn't have to do something you don't want to."

Now it was Tai's turned to frown. "I'll go if you go," he said, "At least then there'd be a point."

Sora resisted the urge to run around the room squeaking with joy. _Finally_ she was going to dance with Taichi. "I'll have to check and make sure I catch a bus," she said, calming herself down, "but otherwise…well, _really_ thank you."

"No problem," he answered, "I'll talk to you later…and oh, Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell Mimi."

~

Keeping true to her promise, Sora didn't tell Mimi. For a while, she fought the urge to rub her victory in the valley girls face…but eventually realized that walking into the dance with Taichi would be even sweeter revenge. She felt temporarily bad for seeking revenge against her former friend...but the feeling quickly faded. This was war. No time for guilt.

Three days before the dance, Tai called up to make finite plans for the dance, or at least, that's what Sora thought.

"Hey Sora, it's Tai," mumbled the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Hey Taichi, what's up?" she smiled, sitting down with the phone squeezed in between her ear and her shoulder so she could continue work on her dress.

"Well…don't get mad or anything…but…I'm not going to the dance," Tai admitted.

"What?" Sora questioned, feeling shocked and sick, "Why not?"

"Everyone's been bugging me so much to go…and I really hate dances…It'd be pointless to go," he said.

"Taichi," she said, automatically reverting to her original plan, "I can't go without you. Please, we don't even have to stay the whole time…you said you would."

"Well, now I'm saying I'm not," he bit back, "Look Sora, I'm sorry…but enough people have been pestering me about it…I don't need you bothering me about it too. Just ask around, I'm sure someone else will pretend to be your date."

He had lied to her. He had promised he would go…and now he refused, her voice faltered as she held back tears, "Bu…Tai, please."

"I'm sorry, but no," he stated simply, "We'll do something some other time, I promise. I've got to go."

Before she could answer, she heard the click on the phone from the other line and knew Taichi had hung up. She was happy to have the room to herself as she let a few tears roll down her cheek.

In the end, she didn't get another date and all the work on her dress went to waste. The night of the dance, she had slipped on the completed dress and gazed at herself in the mirror. The dress was beautiful, but the farthest she would ever wear it was inside her dorm. 

She sat doing a giant lab report as she gorged on candy, dress crumpled into a ball on the floor. Her hair was up in a messy bun and her eyes were slightly red from crying. Around 11, just when she felt the night couldn't get any worse, Matt called.

The boy spent about an hour describing in detail the _wonderfulness_ of the dance she hadn't been a part of. When she was about to speak up in protest, his voice became a little softer…

"And, well, I think I have some bad news…"

"Oh?" she answered, not sure any news could further dampen her mood.

"Well, you know Mimi went over Tai's the other day?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sora said, fuming. She'd heard about that little episode from Mimi and _hadn't_ been happy about it.

"Well," he said, "She told me that while she was there, they were sitting on his bed…and they started holding hands."

"WHAT!?!?" Sora screamed, waking up Meichico.

"Sora!!" Meichico yelled, "What the hell was that about?!" 

Sora ignored her completely, waiting for Matt's response.

"Yeah, I know…I didn't think he liked her either," he admitted, "Mimi said this would serve as 'the begging of their relationship'"

Sora cringed, "It can't be true…It can't."

Meichico watched the expression on her roommates face. Something must be seriously wrong, she was guessing dead dog or dead relative. She decided this was reason enough to forgive her for the sudden awakening and when the two girls from the next dorm over came to complain, Meichi told them that story.

"Well, Tai's neither confirmed or denied it…so Mimi could be making it up," he told her.

"She _better_ be," Sora growled. "I need to figure this out Matt…I'll talk to you later."

"What was that?" Meichico asked, hands on her hips, as Sora hung up the phone.

Sora stammered a bit, she hadn't realized she had waken Meichico up. "Uh, I'm sorry Meichi…my friend…got hurt pretty bad," she lied.

Meichico looked slightly more sympathetic. "I figured something like that," she said and glanced unhappily at the clock...realizing how late it was, she sighed, "Do you like…need to talk about it or something?"

Sora shook her head. "No…" she said, dazed. She laid back down on her bed, turning from Meichi. "I think it would be better if I just went to bed."

The next day, Sora numbed herself in order to get through her classes. She refused to think about what Matt had said, or even what she was going to do about until she returned to her dorm that evening. Without thinking, she signed online to talk to Tai, hoping he could help her feel better.

She wanted to ease slowly into her plan, allotting some time for normal conversation before jumping on him about Mimi. However, that was unsuccessful and after a few IMS she found herself asking the obvious question.

TnnsNrd: _Taichi__…you don't like Mimi, do you?_

When Tai answered, '_Sora__, we already went over this'_, she saw an easy way to bring Mimi down. It was harsh, to say the least…and Sora, under normal cirrcmstances wouldn't resort to it…but then, these _weren't_ normal circumstances…and this wasn't normal Sora. It was a Sora that was lonely, depressed, afraid…and desperate.

TnnsNrd: _Well, I know how you like to be… "affectionate" sometimes…_

That was true enough. Tai never had a problem giving hugs or punches to anyone. He was very much like a little kid, wearing his emotions on his sleeve and sharing them physically with everyone and anyone.

_But, _she continued, _Mimi doesn't understand that…If you're not interested in her…you're sending her the wrong signals…and I don't want her to get hurt. _

She was lying through her teeth…but she didn't care…she had to get Tai back.

SoccrStr07: _Wait a second, are you saying…Mimi likes me? _

TnnsNrd: _That's not what I'm saying…what I'm saying is that you're sending the wrong signals…_

SoccerStr07: _But she likes me?_

Sora felt uncomfortable that he was so interested in what Mimi felt…and she was also uncomfortable about openly revealing a secret. She forced herself to think of Mimi and Tai kissing…erasing any guilty feelings from her conscious.

TnnsNrd: _Well, yeah, but you can't tell her I told you Tai, I just don't want anyone to get hurt…_

Such a lie, she was setting Mimi up for a fall.

SoccerStr07: _I'll brb_

Tai didn't come "right" back. In fact, he was gone for over an hour. At first, Sora didn't know where he had went to…but after a while, Matt got on and told her the awful truth.

BigBadBandBoy: _Mimi says she's having a serious discussion with Tai_

_Crush her hopes Tai, tear her limb from limb…_Sora thought angrily. She sent him a thousand IMs, asking him what was going on…how was Mimi taking it. 

When he finally returned, he gave shady responses, never really answering her questions. So she continued to dig, his unclear responses scaring her more then she ever knew she could be scared. She even turned to Mimi for answers.

Eventually, they both got tired of interrupting their own conversation to calm Sora down.

PinkFlowaPowaShoopingPrinzess: _You know Sora, it's really none of your business_

Sora turned red with fury, "OH YEAH!?" she screamed at the computer. She typed her response so fiercely she nearly broke the keyboard.

TnnsNrd: _You're my friend and Tai's my friend and whether you like it or not, you're actions effect all of us. So yes, it is my business and no, the world doesn't revolve around you_

Mimi couldn't come up with a counter response. Instead, she told Sora something that would plague her for weeks after.

PinkFlowaPowaShoopingPrinzess: _It's not like we're like… "a couple" or anything stupid like that…_

Mimi refused to say anymore…but what she had said was enough…it was obvious Tai hadn't rejected her…so what had happened?

Sora continued to drill her friend….unwilling to accept the horrible truth from anyone but Tai…but she got the same response from him.

SoccrStr07: _Look Sora, this is getting old. I don't mean to be mean, but… it's really none of your business_

She had never felt so hurt.

TnnsNrd: _You're right…goodnight Tai_

None of her business… she had been his best friend…it _use_ to be her business. He couldn't have known how deep those words had stung her. 

That night, she cried herself to sleep.


	10. Collaspe

AN: Before we start, a warning to Mimi fans. I made her much like satan in this chapter. Honestly, I sort of like the girl, but I needed a villain and I was tired of using poor Matt ;) please forgive me! :D

Chapter 10 (IS THE END!)

Life went on as usual for the rest of the world. After a few days of recovery, Sora went back to talking to Tai. He didn't say another word about Mimi and neither did anyone else…which made it that much easier for Sora to pretend it never happened and continuing denying that anything was going on between them.

But as much as someone wants to believe something, that doesn't make it true. She was pretending nothing had changed, she was pretending everything was alright…but it wasn't. She glossed over the fact that Tai never started a conversation with her, she pretended not to realize how strained and forced it all seemed…but she could only ignore it all for so long. The slow decay of her relationship with her former best friend and her lack of any new friends were slowing taking their toll. Breaking into sobs and curling into a little ball in the corner were everyday events. 

And as terrible as she felt, no one even noticed. Not her teachers, not her friends in Mizayaki, not even the kids here. She was completely invisible to the world and nothing she would do could get their attention. She knew she couldn't go on like this….she knew she had to talk to Taichi.

It started out as a normal conversation…or as normal as conversations got anymore. Tai was being quite and unresponsive with Sora leading the conversation. Tai continued with one word answers "Yeahs" and… "Okays" that made Sora angrier then if he hadn't bothered to respond at all. Eventually, she blurted out what she had meant to say all along.

"arrrgg...their is hostility or something going on...I feel it but I dont know what it is ______ and it TORMENTS ME SO X( " she typed. She wasn't about to let Tai know just how much this was actually bothering her.

"SccrStr07: Well, I haven't really been feeling myself lately…" he told her.

It wasn't the answer Sora was looking for. She wanted him to comfort her, to apologize, to make up an excuse about being busy. She wanted him to assure her that everything would be alright, she wanted him to tell her he 'couldn't stop thinking' about her, she wanted him to say she was 'the beauty that is deeper then eyes can merely see'…she wanted him to be her old Tai again…

She continued to drill him, searching desperately for those answer…but they weren't there. He had said he wanted to be the shoulder that she cried on, was it to much to take him up on that offer now that everyday felt like a day in hell? She had lost the ability to be open about her feelings when she was a little girl and trying to clue Tai in on how horrible all this was making her feel without _actually_ saying it was proving to be a difficult business. Tai kept playing everything off as a joke, or just ignoring it all together. He was getting up to get food when she was trying to pour her heart out to him.

After a while, she became more direct…but Tai still wasn't serious. 

"SccrStr07: God Sora, will you stop being so melodramatic?" he had asked, making her even angrier.

No matter what she said, she couldn't get through to him. He wasn't listening and that feeling had been too familiar in the last few weeks. As he continued to insist she was being melodramatic, she grew more and more hysterical.

"TnnsNrd: YOU KNOW WHAT, SCREW IT! AND SCREW YOU TOO!"  she finally blurted out without thinking. She furiously signed off and threw herself onto the bed, tears streaming down her face. Anyone who looked back on the conversation would have seen Sora was being a bit on the pushy side. She might have even realized it, had she been in a proper state of mind…but as it was, she felt terribly wronged. 

Even if Tai had thought the situation melodramatic, she had made it clear that it was important to her and that should have been enough for him. She wanted to kill him slowly, to find him and rip his heart out with her bare hands, to make him feel the pain she was feeling. Then maybe he'd see she wasn't being melodramatic.    

She tried hard to stay awake and plot Tai's demise, but she was still crying and she was still so tired. Her sobs began to soften slightly and her eyes began to slowly close. As she drifted off, she glanced up at the picture of Tai that still sat on her bedside. With her last bit of energy, she knocked the picture over and then surrendered herself to sleep.

~One Week Later~

It was a waiting game, seeing who would cave first and admit they were wrong. Sora always seemed to always be the loser, but not this time. She was sick and tired of being so sick and tired. She wasn't going to apologize, not this time, not when it hadn't been her fault.

Three weeks in, without a word from Taichi…Sora gave in. It had been the longest she had ever gone without talking to her friend and obviously…Tai could care less. She surrendered. Tai had won. She wasn't sure who she hated most at that moment: Taichi, Mimi,…or herself.

Not long after, Matt called to invite Sora to the school talent show, which his band was going to compete in. It was on Sunday, the day before her big math exam…so she was a bit hesitant.

"You know," Matt said, "Tai'll be there."

Sora paused for a second. She wasn't suppose to care if Tai was there or not…not after the way he'd treated her…

"I'll go," she answered quietly. She had always been told that there would be times when her heart and her head would disagree…but she had never believed it till now. Her mind told her to move on, that Tai was a jerk and she was being a weak delusional baby hoping to win back a boy she never even had…but her heart refused to believe any of it.

It was a long and boring ride to the talent show…but well worth it. As soon as she stepped in the door, Sora was bombarded with people. It seemed as if maybe, just for one night, she wasn't totally invisible. She met up with Matt and Izzy at the bleachers and squished them both into a big hug. After a few minutes of catching up, she casually asked, "So…where's Tai?"

"Mimi's picking him up," Izzy replied, sipping on some coke, "They should arrive here relatively soon." 

Matt caught Sora's eyes, trying to read her reaction…but they remained blank. Lately, blank was all she was feeling.

Matt's band wasn't playing until after intermission, so all three sat down as the lights began to dim. The first few acts were scantly clad girls dancing to peppy little pop numbers that drove Sora to the brink of her sanity. As her eyes gazed around the room looking for familiar faces, she finally saw Tai and Mimi.

"They're here," she whispered to Izzy and Matt, who shuffled to stand. The three made there way slowly down the aisle to the door where Tai and Mimi stood. 

"Hey Sora!" Mimi giggled and threw her arms around her. 

"Hey," Tai mentioned passively. Sora tried smiling lightly, but failed. Her eyes were glued to Mimi, short black leather mini-skirt, a tight black blouse with word "Rebel" etched in pink AN: *shudders* burn all those shirts, gobs of silver jewelry, and thigh high black boots.

Mimi noticed her stare. "You like?" she asked, spinning around to show off her outfit, "I know, you must be surprised while you were gone, I turned like, so totally punk."

AN: Confused? You should be ;) No, I kid, I was just trying to get across Mimi's fickleness, her want for attention, and her willingness to be whatever people want her to be

Sora grinded her teeth and clenched her fist. Matt held back laughter at his friends expression. Though he was sure Sora pounding the crap out of Mimi would be entertaining, he decided to step in. "We should go sit down," he said.

"Alright, hold on, I'm gonna change my shirt," Tai said and walked towards the boys bathroom, shirt in hand.

"Let's leave him!" Mimi giggled, bouncing up and down.

"I think we should wait," Sora stated quietly.

"No! It'll be so funny! Come on!" Mimi said, grabbing Sora's hand and dragging her away.

The group sat back down again, focusing their attention on Sarah Becker, singing "The Wind Beneath My Wings" Sora, however, was watching the back of the auditorium for Tai's return.

"Hey," she said, seeing Tai exit the bathroom and look around the auditorium, "I don't think Tai can see us…we should probably go get him." 

"He'll find us eventually," Mimi said, eyes fixated on Todd Jackson, who was showing his amazing "dancing pecks".

 "But I really think…" Sora started. 

"Ssh!" Mimi and Matt hissed in unison.

Sora fell silent again. As Todd took a bow, she tried once more.

"Aww, guys come on, he looks so sad, let's go…"

"Sora, SSH!" came again as Mark O'Leary stepped on stage. Sora quietly waited for this for this act to end. Thankfully, Mark's act was the last before intermission, and when the house light finally came up, Tai was able to find them.

However, the lights also allowed Sora's old math teacher to notice her. By the time that conversation had ended, Sora barely had time to wish Matt good luck before the lights began to dim again. 

Now she, Mimi, Tai, and Izzy took seats in the very back row. Izzy continued typing disinterestedly on his laptop as Taichi took his seat next to Mimi. "Sit here," he told Sora, motioning to the seat next to him. Sora eyed him curiously; she hadn't expected _that_ and from the looks of it, neither had Mimi. 

They quietly chatted amongst themselves for most of the acts. Tai started a long story about his (and Sora's previous) soccer team. As the story got on, Mimi got bored and interrupted, asking about the condition of her hair. Tai paused to tell her it looked fine and promptly forgot about the story that he had stressed as "the best story ever!" a minute early.

Mimi was ranting about how it had taken "forever for my hair to crimp today!" when Sora broke in. "Tai, what was the end of the story?" she asked, partially to piss off Mimi, partially to impress Tai, but mostly because it was had been her soccer team too, and she wanted to hear the end.

Tai smiled slightly at Sora, which she interpreted as him realizing 'Oh yeah, _she_ actually cares about someone other then herself'. He finished up the story and Sora let out a laugh. For a second, things were normal again. Tai and Sora were best friends and Mimi was being ignored.

Of course, Mimi didn't like this at all. Throwing a glare at Sora, she began to run her hand up Tai's arm, giggling slightly and playing with his fingers. Sora froze, blood boiling. Mimi only took encouragement from Sora's gathering rage, resting her head on Tai's and wrapping his arm around her.

Tai was smiling slightly and to Sora's horror, reciprocating the obscene fondling. Sora felt tears welling up in her eyes and realized air wasn't getting to her lungs for some reason. Gasping a little, she forced her way out of her chair and ran quickly to the double doors a the back of the auditorium, busting them open and breathing loudly, she heard them close with a bang and collapsed onto the floor of the hall.

A few tears escaped as Sora tried hard to keep from sobbing. Mimi had won. Mimi had won Tai. She wanted more then anything for Tai to come running down the hall after her and apologize to her, and make everything okay.

_Apologize for what?_ She asked herself, wiping tears from her eyes. _He can't apologize for how he feels. He doesn't care about you. That's your fault, not his. _At this thought, Sora choked a little again. _Who could blame him? Look at you, you're absolutely pathetic. _

She made no attempt to argue with the biting little voice in her mind….she _felt_ pathetic. She rose, brushed herself off and smiled lightly at the closed door. An auditorium full of people and not one of them had run after her. She wiped her face again, and headed towards the door.

Matt had called the next day to ask "what the hell happened". She was unable to find an answer for him, unable to put into words the way seeing Tai and Mimi like that had made her feel. It was physical, tearing pain somewhere deep inside her like she had never felt before that remerged whenever she thought about anything remotely related to Miyazaki.

"I don't know," she had whispered sadly and Matt had proceeded to yell that she had missed the best performance and that she should have told someone she was going and that he had had a letter he needed her to deliver to Andy for him. After continuous apologies, she whimpered a good bye and hung up the phone without waiting for an answer. 

She was staying with her mother in her old apartment until Monday, giving her a heavy load of makeup work to do. Almost thankfully, her mother had gone out for the day so she was left alone to catch up. She hoped on to the computer, but didn't sign on to aim. Why did it matter? No one would talk to her anyway. She quickly went to retrieve the journalism homework she had sent to herself and found an email from Tai. She smiled slightly, knowing it would be her sweet Taichi, wanting to know what had happened. She opened it up, trying not to appear excited, and began scanning the content inside.

_" Hey__ there,_

_When arranging for me to get to the talent show, Mimi and I stumbled _

_upon__ the subject of tenth grade; no we didn't stumble upon it, i brought it up. _

_I can't remember what the stimulus was, but i mentioned how i always felt _

_crappy__ in ninth and tenth grade because i was constantly being annoyed and how things were better this year . I probably shouldn't have said that, mind you. _

_Then I regretted saying anything because she felt needlessly bad._

Oh yes!? Heaven forbid _Mimi_ should feel bad!! Tai had just blatantly stated that SORA was the cause of him feeling bad in his ninth and tenth grade year.

_Just yesterday i found out you were "mad" at me again. i thought _

_everything__ was fine because of the instant message you had sent me that one day, and i _

_had__ no reason to believe that anything was wrong except for the constant hints _

_that__ you were angry with me again. Matt let me in on why, he said you were mad at _

_me__ because you had apparently said i wasn't talking to you anymore. but i _

_could__ only wonder why _you_ hadn't told me this. of course, i knew that was _

_how__ you handled things, maybe you asked people to drop hints, maybe you didn't, _

_i__ don't know. but all i know is i was oblivious._

Sora burned with rage. HOW SHE HANDLED THINGS?! NO, IT WASN'T HOW SHE HANDLED THINGS!! She had _tried_ to confront Tai about her problem but he had called her melodramatic! She had told Matt in confidence, not that she was mad at Tai, but that she was lonely, and missed talking to him. She thought Tai knew her better then to think she would stop to "dropping hints" for attention. But now here he was, accusing her of something that had never happened. She wanted to bad to slap some sense into him.

_perhaps__ you won't mind if i gave a suggestion, and i try my best to _

_step__ lightly without diluting what i want to say. and yet, i've decided not to say _

_it__ at all because i don't know the whole story, that is, your side, so it would _

_be__ elementary of me to make a rash comment._

For once, Sora was glad he didn't say whatever he was thinking. It was probably just another one of his ego-trip conclusions based on zero facts what-so-ever.

_So Mimi predicts that she will be torn between us two when you decide _

_to__ go somewhere where i'm not in a demonstration of your disdain, based on _

_what__ shes seen in the past no doubt. and sure enough when i get there and change _

_into__ my shirts, i've been left. i can't say i didn't expect it, but i handled it the way_

_i__ handle most relevant things by forgetting about it. so i sit down _

_next__ to Jamie and talk, "handling it like a pro," but with that same crappy _

_feeling__._

Mimi, THAT BITCH, _she _had been the one to leave Tai! That's why she wouldn't listen! That's why she left him! She was setting Sora up! Seen in the past?! Where was Tai pulling this shit from!? Had he gone completely insane!?

_then__ i go and talk to the Jason, and wait until i spot a sympathetic one; usually when this has happened before someone has felt bad or something and come out and retrieved me. finally i see a trio trekking across the court, bid farewell to the Jason  stating that i found my friends, and walk up alongside. i say to Mimi "man, that was clever of you", and she says that she felt really bad. and i was like "just like we said on the phone" and she gave that genuine laugh._

She felt bad?..._clever of her?_ Sora had been the one to feel bad, Sora had been the one to get them to go back over to Tai. That _genuine _laugh!? That pure acid false little giggle. Mimi had KNOWN what she was doing, she knew she destroying Sora...and she was using it to get Tai. 

_fact__ is i hadn't been talking to anyone. maybe one or two people, but I was just in a strange state and i think i am still. i didn't really want to talk too many people at all, you know, sometimes people just need that sort of time. or maybe i was just waiting for something, i don't know yet, everythings screwed up these days for the most irrelevant reasons. i'm so confused. whatever, don't get sad or anything. hopefully we can hang out again soon, you look nice and seem to be happy, i've learned recently that that's what's most important. don't ask me how, i'm still trying to figure it out myself._

_Tai_

It was a lie, he knew it and she knew it. She didn't look nice, she wasn't happy, he didn't hope they could hang out soon. Everything Tai, the one person she had trusted, had ever said, was a lie. Everything anyone had ever told her was a lie. Her friends had claimed they would miss her, but every one of them had moved on with out her. None of them wanted to take any of their own time to find out what was wrong, why she was so pale, why she kept shaking, why she ran out of the auditorium crying. Matt barely talked to her anymore…and the few times he did it was to tell her about Andy or to say what a horrible person she was.

Everyone hated her. Everyone in Miyazaki, everyone in Tokyo. Her father had hated her that's why he had left them. She was worthless and ugly and she would never be loved. She could work as much as she wanted, get the best grades, but what could did it do? Guys aren't looking at girls report cards, getting straight A's won't get you friends. She was sobbing hysterically as she stumbled to the bathroom.

Her world was collapsing around her. The pressure of school, loneliness, and utter desperation that had been pressing down on her since she arrived at TAGAT brought her too her knees. Pictures flashed quickly through her mind but never stayed long enough for her to distinguish them. She just wanted for someone to stay. She just wanted to be worth something. She just wanted to be loved.

She grasped the familiar porcelain toilet with dizzy disposition. She vomited for a while and then when there was nothing left to bring up, she started to dry heave. She couldn't go on like this. She couldn't let this go on anymore. There was no one to trust in the world. She was more alone then she had ever thought.

Exhaustion and surrender overcame her. She was just too tired, too tired. Her mind slowly went blank and she collapsed onto the cold tile floor.

AN: Okay everyone, it's 2 AM, I know the editing for last four chapters has been horrible…but I'm tired, now for some important information!

Originally, I had planned for Sora's "collapse" not to happen until chapter 11 in which she went back to Miyazaki, loses feelings for Tai, Tai shows his absolute obsession with Mimi and begins ranting about how everyone other digidestined is virtually worthless. In one scene, Tai holds Sora's hand and states "You know what I mean?" and makes her realize she'll never be over him. Then, after a lengthy inner monologue from Sora, I was going to have "the collapse". I had this chapter almost completed when I realize it was repeating way too much of the other chapters and wasn't helping really helping the plot progress any further. So I cut it and moved "the collapse" to this chapter, hoping it doesn't seem to sudden ;) 

As for this being the end, it's not! :D In fact, for the first time EVER I was faced with the possibility of MULTIPLE endings. At first, I had been dead set on one ending that "came to me in a dream" ;) Like all dreams, it was mysterious and confusing, with lots of possibilities and lots of unanswered questions. It was the ending I wanted and it seemed to be the ending that matched best with the fiction. But then I was forced to look at reality. If this was reality, and not fiction, how would the ending turn out? Ultimately, it was a different ending then what I had thought…but I still liked it because it seemed the most sane. Then, of course, I remembered the most important rule in fanfiction. It's for the fans. I had labeled this fic "Taiora" but it had turned out more angst then romance. I thought about if I was reading this fic and had waited all this time…and gotten no Taiora, I would be pissed as hell, and that's where the third ending came from. 

In conclusion,

If you want the ending you probably want, with romance and a totally disregard of reality, go on to

Chapter 11: Pockets Full of Posies 

If you want the foggy ending derived from my subconscious, click straight over to 

Chapter 12: Ashes, Ashes

If you want the depressing realistic ending, head to

Chapter 13: We All Fall Down

I hope you've all enjoyed this fic and walked away with some kind of moral…whatever it may be. Thank you so much for your time and your reviews. I also hope you enjoy your ability to pick your own ending. Sadly, it's not a novelty we have quite often :) As always, reviews are appreciated IMMENSLY.

With lots of love and the best wishes,

Soragirl

"Have you hugged an author today? Write a review and make one's day!"


	11. Alt Ending: Pockets Full of Posies

Pockets Full of Posies 

AN: Ah, you saps, you choose the easy way out, the happy romantic ending ;) You're just like me! ^_^ Don't get too happy just yet, remember, posies we're used to cover up the smell of the dead ;D

"Everything, lies…can't trust…anyone…Tai…Mimi…Matt" she mumbled under her breath, tossing and turning ever more violent. "NO! NO! NOOO!" she screamed. She woke up with a jolt and was sent flying backwards in her chair, impacting the floor at a rather nasty angle.

"Sora!"  Tai yelled, dropping instantly to the floor to help her up. 

"Don't touch me!" she shouted and maneuvered out of the chair, still rubbing her banged head.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she asked accusingly, glaring at Tai. 

Tai looked at her strangely, seriously questioning her sanity. "I came over to help you with your application to TAGAT…you fell asleep a little while ago but I didn't wake you up, you've been really stressed out lately," he said with concern.

"Application for TAGAT?" Sora breathed softly with disbelieve. She walked over to the desk in front of the fallen chair and sure enough, there was her application for TAGAT, only partially completed. She lifted up the piece of paper gingerly, half afraid to actually realize the truth. 

She looked over the paper with a scrupulous eye. "You mean…it was all a dream?" she whispered. 

"From the way you were screaming, it sounded more like a nightmare," Tai told her with a half-smile. "Are you okay?"

"I guess I am," she answered, running the "dream" over again in her mind, trying to figure out what was real and what was fake and what it all meant.

_None of it happened, Tai didn't hurt you._ She tried to tell herself….but the "dream" had been so real. She had felt so hurt.

"Taichi…in the dream…in the nightmare…"she started cautiously.

"I did something didn't I?" he realized frightfully, "I did something to hurt you?"

She nodded slightly and then looked towards the ground.

 "Sora," he said very seriously, realizing how much this dream had upset his friend, "You know I would never hurt you. _Never_." 

"I…I…know," she admitted. That had been the craziest part of the dream. She had been so lost and confused. Tai changing his attitude towards her so suddenly had knocked her completely off guard and she had never been truly able to understand it.

_It was a dream,_ she assured herself,_ it was all a dream._  When she finally accepted it, those were the most wonderful words she could have heard. For the first time, she cried because she was happy and she rushed up to Tai and threw her arms around him.

"Oh Taichi-kun, I thought I had lost you…I thought you hated me…and you fell in love with Mimi and you got so mean and I was all alone and…and…" she said quickly, crying onto his shoulder.

Tai squeezed her tighter. "Sshh…Sora, it's okay. It was just a dream. I'm here now. It's okay."

"Taichi, I know you don't believe in love," she whispered fearfully, gathering her strength by being in his arms, "I never did either…but when I thought I lost you…it was like losing my whole world…and honestly, I don't know if that's love…but if it's not…then I don't know what is."

He laughed happily, hugging Sora tighter, and leaning down quickly to give her a long anticipated kiss. 

"And all this time I thought you'd say I was stupid if I told you the same thing," he said.

Sora smiled and blushed.  As if knowing she needed to hear the words to confirm it all, he said them.

"I love you, Sora."

"I love you too, Taichi." she admitted almost shamefully.

"No more TAGAT?" Tai asked hopefully, still holding his best friend in his arms.

"No more TAGAT," Sora promised, balling up the application and throwing it into the trash.

As Tai grinned devilishly and kissed her once again. Yes, it was safe to say the "nightmare" had ended up more blessing then burden after all. 


	12. Alt Ending: Ashes, Ashes

Ashes, Ashes

AN: Ahh, so you've chosen to go with "the foggy subconscious" I think it's the one I like most because you can pretty much interrupt it anyway you want, Tai's married to Mimi, Sora's married to Tai, no ones married at all. It's up to you friend :D

A pair of slender black boots lifted out of the car and onto the gravel driveway. Her proud stride caused a familiar crunching sound and her blue and white peasant skirt whipped forward and back with her movement. Her pace slowed, as she quietly observed the yard, home to various bright orange and yellow Fisher Price toys, made from only the thickest plastic. A large purple minivan with Dora the Explorer window decorations was parked nearby.

The women clicked up the steps and nervously rang the door bell. The front door opened, leaving only the screen door between the women and a slightly disheveled man in his 30s or 40s. Even from behind the screen and even after all that time, the man knew exactly who was at his door.

"Sora," he whispered, stunned, sympathetic, and guilty. Realizing she was still standing outside in the cold, he opened up the screen door instinctively telling her to, "Come in! Come in!"

"Thanks," she smiled, stepping inside the house. 

"It's been…a long time," the man said timidly, putting his hands in his pocket and exhaling deeply. 

"It has," Sora agreed nervously, twisting around the solid gold band on her ring finger. The two stared for a minute, creating an awkward silence.

Her stare made his guilt welled up inside him, "Sora, I didn't-" he started to stress sincerely.

"I know," Sora smiled softly, "…I want to start over."

She stepped closer to him and took his hand in her own. He subdued a blush until she showed her real purpose, and gave him a hearty hand shake.

"I'm Sora Takenouchi," she smiled, tears swelling up her eyes, "It's great to meet you."

"Taichi Kamiya," he laughed, holding back tears of his own. He returned her handshake, but couldn't resist emerging her in a giant hug. Sora broke down into tears and even Tai let a few escape him, hugging her tightly. "I think this is beginning of a beautiful friendship."


	13. Alt Ending: We All Fall Down

We All Fall Down

AN: So you choose the depressing, predictable, realistic ending? Good for you! :D Way to face reality! :D

A freezing wind blew through the dead trees of Miyazaki Arms Cemetery, the cold and bleak weather seemed only fitting for such a cold and bleak day. The casket was surrounded by rows of people, shivering in the wind. 

Matt Yamato clutched the hand of his boyfriend Andy tightly, trying to keep himself from crying. It was effective enough for that, but he couldn't keep himself from thinking it was all his fault, that he should have been there for his friend. Getting progressively angrier at himself, he nearly crushed Andy's hand. Andy withdrew it quickly but placed his arm around Matt's waist in understand. Matt caved, and began crying softly.

Izzy stood stolid, head bowed slightly, feeling his own guilt as well. Joe stood beside him, staring out into the distance, unable to comprehend what had happened. Kari was sobbing hysterically and shivering spastically.  T.K. wrapped his arms and his jacket around her, as if trying shield her from either the cold or the pain as a few tears rolled down his own cheeks.

James stood next to Meichi, both admittedly ashamed that they were the only two TAGAT students to attend the funeral (besides Andy). James looked nervous and uncomfortable around people who had known Sora most of her life. Meichi tried to play the role of the "concerned but brave" friend, making her eyes water slightly as she stared at the casket. 

Mimi stood next to Taichi, happy that she had finally been given the chance to wear her new black dress. She too faked concern, turning her head dramatically, stifling "sobs", aggressively grabbing Tai by the arm, and leaning her head on his shoulder.

Tai stood blankly; emotions completely unreadable. He and Sora had discussed suicide casually once or twice. Both had agreed that it was "the cowards way out" and "not a solution", or at least, both had said that. It wasn't a secret that he had hurt Sora, even if they hadn't showed her diary passages…He had caused her death,he knew that,…but the question was, did he care? The question was unanswerable, as he stood off in his own world, staring at the coffin.

Sora Takenouchi, 17, had been found dead in a pool of her own blood four days ago. Two long cuts stretched down her tender wrists, deep enough to reveal bones. Medical examiners had ruled the cause of death suicide on sight. The body was taken to the morgue but Ms.Takenouchi's was left to clean her daughter's blood from the tiles.

The woman, torn and broken beyond all belief, approached the podium. Emotionlessly, she opened up a small black book, Sora's journal, and flipped to a bookmarked page. She began reading tearfully, with a hint of anger in her usually soft tone.

"For once, I'm at a lack for words. The one time my words are important, the one time my words could be listened to, or make any difference…and I don't know what to say. There's too much to say, too much to explain, too much to apologize for. I'm tired. I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of crying, I'm tired in living in a world where everything is fake or corrupt. No one cares…no one cares at all…it's a dull and painful realization but it's what finally allowed me to be free.

 I'm not sure about God or about what comes beyond this point. I'm fairly certain even if there is a heaven, that's not where I would be headed towards. I'm terrified of what I'll find waiting for me on "the other side" and I know, now more then ever, I'll have to face it alone…and yet, I'm going anyway, because I have to…because there is no way for me to take this hurting anymore. I know no matter where I go, be it heaven, hell, or if it just all goes blank…it's got to be better then here, it has to be. I'm sorry. You have to know. I'm so so sorry.

I guess that's all that's important really, that I'm sorry and that I loved you all more then you could ever know. What does the reasoning matter? I think I'm headed to a better place now....just please forgive what I have done.…we all get tired, I mean eventually…there's nothing left to do but sleep… "

Ms. Takenouchi had broken into hysterically sobs but had continued to read her only daughter's suicide note. She had planned on giving a speech about how much her daughter meant to her, what a wonderful person she was, how the had to stop this from happening to any other children. It was all there, written on a sheet of small sheet of paper…but she couldn't read the words, she couldn't make the sounds come out. Shocked and unsure, she whispered the only thing she could think of.

"Goodbye Sora…" she whispered, closed the small black notebook and dropped it on the side of the casket.

AN: As you can tell, I've never really written anything particularly depressing before, so this ending was really hard for me. In fact, the ending line of the suicide note, I of course stole from Bright Eyes: No Lies, Just Love, an absolutely awesome song about suicide *hugs Conner Oberst till his eyes pop out* Anyway, this is the "real" ending to the story, the other two were just made up to please myself and readers ;) I hope you enjoyed the story and found at least one ending you could stand!

As always, infinite love and best wishes! :DDD

-Soragirl

"Have you hugged your author today? Write a review and make ones day!"


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